


A Beast's Heart

by littlecookieman



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Character's Name Spelled as Farlan, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-02-12 09:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12956730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlecookieman/pseuds/littlecookieman
Summary: Levi leads a quiet life in on the edge of a village with his friends, Isabel and Farlan. One bad day leads him to an enchanted castle with a cursed prince playing kidnapper turned host, as well as his similarly afflicted staff. After making a deal for the freedom of his friends, Levi becomes the last hope for Prince Eren and his friends.(Or a Beauty and Beast AU. Not the one anyone wanted but it's here anyway)





	1. The little town

**Author's Note:**

> Forgive this awkward first chapter, they're always like new shoes; an uncomfortable fit with the potential to become the best decision you ever made, or end up burned into your memories as a 'what to avoid for the rest of your life'. Also, these first few chapters won't have any Eren in sadly, just a heads up.

At the edge of a small village, a short distance down a long road was a small stone cottage. Next to it sat a barn of similar size and a vegetable patch, currently bare in the cold season.

The kitchen inside the cottage was sparse. Enough room for one person to move in, two to stand in, and three to squish in before becoming frustrated and giving up. The floor was made up of dark flagstone tiles that never seemed to be completely clean. Stood at the sink, hands plunged into soapy water, was Levi. At the sound of approaching footsteps, he glanced over his shoulder in time to see Isabel’s head appear in the doorway. “Bro, are you still going down to the village today?”  
  
He hummed in affirmative looking back down to start on a bowl. “Just after this, seems _someone_ has a very different interpretation of the word ‘clean’.” She snickered but he let it slide. “Why, you need something?” 

She skipped forward to stand next to him, snagging a dishtowel to dry the items on the side. “Farlan just got a letter from some buyer he’s riding out to meet with tomorrow, and he asked if you could get some supplies while you’re out?”

“Sure,” he replied, handing her the now clean dish to dry. Hastily finishing with the bowel, Isabel said her thanks and bouncing off to pass along the message.

Levi rubbed the back of his wrist against his forehead, god how he envied her energy. The three of them had lived together for years now, the past two in this wood and stone cottage. Farlan had found Levi first, in a different town where they were both just getting as petty thieves, he was the one to suggest an alliance between them. Isabel turned up a year into their partnership, a rambunctious sixteen-year-old with burning red pigtails who failed miserably at trying to pick-pocket Levi in the street. Somehow the three of them managed to beg, borrow, and mostly steal enough money to - get them chased out of town and - end up in this rural village as humble farmers. Several months into their settling Farlan discovered his knack for craft: carving, painting, the occasional clock, and his name just spread.  

Levi grabbed a thick woolen cloak from its stand on his way to the door. “I’ll be back soon,” he called out. There was no need to shout, in this house if someone dropped a sock you knew about it. All the same, Isabel called out an acknowledgment from somewhere upstairs, and Levi stepped out.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The village was a short walk down the main road, a long, uneven dirt path which had twisted more than a few ankles. It cut through the surrounding countryside like an old scar, subtle, but established enough that the bordering foliage respected its presence and grew around it. During the summer miles of green covered everything, the hills, fields, trees, but winter was fast approaching now. The browning grass of the field was just stubble on slick mud, and the path was plastered with a layer of sodden, rust coloured leaves. The sights were so familiar to him now that Levi didn’t bother paying attention, he just let his mind wander to other things. This place was, in a word, _quiet_. Still, Levi wasn’t complaining, he was grateful to be off the streets and not constantly worrying about where his next meal was coming from.

At the end of the path was a footbridge that led into the village, which he soon found himself crossing. The village itself was small and close-knit, with ground made of half dusty cobblestone, half horse-shit. It boasted a single marketplace which consisted of wooden stalls thrown up wherever there was room. Built up around the square were buildings, all small and basic, made of wood and brick that had once been cleanly covered, but now was weather-worn and cracking. In the centre of all, it was a stone water fountain where people gathered to wash clothes, babies, and mistakes off.   


“Good morning, Sir!” Called the baker Levi never learned the name of.

He nodded his head with a mumbled, “Morning,” in response. Whether the baker had heard him or not didn’t seem to matter as the man carried on, keeping his head low to focus on his tray of bread.

Levi had barely taken five steps before the next, “Good morning,” was aimed at him, this time by a tight-lipped smiling woman with frizzy greying hair and a wheelbarrow of fruits. He replied the same and quickened his pace ever so slightly.

By the time he had finished visiting the few stalls necessary for Farlan’s supplies, he had received three more polite ‘good mornings’, and a handful of nods and forced smiles. He silently cursed the bookseller for being the furthest business away as he responded to them all.

Finally, the store was within spitting distance, thinking he was home free Levi’s paced quickened when out of the corner of his eye he caught three young women watching him. One short with ginger hair and freckles, another in a floral dress with brunette pigtails, the final with a smug face and ashy blonde waves. Smug-face leaned into the other two, whispering behind her lace covered hand, her eyes never leaving him. Pigtail’s eyes flickered between her and Levi. He felt his jaw clench but carried on silently, at least they weren’t saying ‘good morning’.

The creak of the old door under the sharp jingle of the bell was a welcomed sound when Levi finally arrived. The bookseller, Eld, was one of the few people in this town he actually spoke with beyond the usual pleasantries. Eld was sat at his desk, feet kicked up, reading a book. He barely glanced up from his page at the bell’s chime. “Morning, Levi.”      


“Eld,” he acknowledged, zoning in on the shelves. “Anything worth leaving the house for today?”  


The bookseller lifted his head as if remembering something. “You’re in luck, I actually might have something.”  


Well, fuck him sideways, Levi hadn’t been expecting that. The store itself was small, consisting of only one wall with six shelves of books, as much of the village was illiterate there wasn’t need of anything bigger. Occasionally, Eld would miraculously pull a new book out of his ass, probably just because he’d gotten sick of re-reading the same stories year after year; not that Levi was complaining. “Top shelf, it’s called The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.” Eld waved his hand in the general direction, before seeming to return to his own book. There was a beat where Levi just stared at him. He could see the moment the bookseller realised why as he tensed up and sheepishly pulled his legs from his desk to stand.

“Right. Sorry,” he mumbled, walking up to the shelf. Levi stood at a solid 5’3, putting him eye-level with the chest of the blonde tree in front of him, who looked like he was fighting amusement as he easily grabbed the book and held it out.

Levi glared for a moment before taking it and flipping it around in his hands. It was thick with a green leather cover; gold-leaf designs ran along the spine and around the title which read ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ in white calligraphy. Eld was already walking back to his seat. “Not sure whether it’s to your taste or not but I’d recommend it.”  


Levi scoffed. “Don’t worry, pretty soon I’ll be down to reading the damn dictionary.”

He paid the deposit and headed out again, Eld waved him off from his desk. Stepping outside into the bustling market place he paused for a moment, placing his satchel of purchases on the ground as he plucked his gloves out of the inner-pockets in his cloak. The sky was a dull, overcast grey with the sharp cool of a late Autumn morning and Levi had little optimism that it was going to get much warmer.  


“Good morning, Mr. Ackerman.” Levi raised his head, ready to return the greeting until he realised who was speaking. 

“Mr. Zackly. Good morning.” Darius Zackly, an aged town official with a pot-belly and small round glasses that sat on the end of his nose. His grey hair was always neatly combed back, and his thick beard immaculately trimmed. The man was polite, well-dressed, and approachable. Of course, he also happened to be the antichrist.

He was rubbing his gloved hands together near his face as he spoke. “Cold enough for you?” It made sense he’d be cold, what with him being so accustomed to fire and brimstone.  


“Hm, seems winter’s come early this year,” Levi responded, maintaining steady eye contact with the man.

When Isabel, Farlan and himself moved to the town, Zackly had been the first one to come greet them. The entire conversation was a thinly veiled attempt to pry into their lives, who they were, what they did, where they came from. He never openly voiced his suspicions but close-knit communities do love gossip, especially about outsiders, and one of the most important men in town suspecting you of nefarious activity did wonders to get people talking. As Isabel was fond of reminding him, they were technically criminals and Zackly was right to be cautious, but there still something about him Levi didn’t trust.

“I hope it doesn’t affect your farm too badly.” Now Levi prided himself on his ability to keep a neutral face, it had gotten him out of more bad situations than he could count, but _this_ geriatric, dead-eyed, hellspawn was on another level. He looked polite, almost friendly, and it was disconcerting to know that every word of out the man’s mouth was probably a trap.

“We’ll manage just fine. Thank you.”

Zackly smile didn’t reach his eyes. They were too focused, like a lion waiting for a gazelle to fall behind its herd and into its jaws. “Well that is reassuring to hear, and how are your friends keeping?”

_Mind your own damn business_

“Fine, thank you. How is your family?” Villagers, who until now had been going about their business, were now glancing over at the conversing pair. One man stood at the material stand, the side of his head cocked towards them as he unseeingly plunged his hand into a basket of pink hair-ribbons. Near the flower stall, a mother who was crouched down adjusting her child’s jacket had been brushing off his shoulders for a solid minute. Zackly must have been aware of the extra eyes on them as when he spoke again it was louder, and so fake Levi wanted to grind his teeth.

“They are wonderful as ever, thank you for asking.” Levi held himself back from pointing out he didn’t actually give a shit, he just wanted this conversation over.

“Glad to hear that.”

Zackly looked like he was going to drag this out, as he always did. Levi didn’t know what the man was expecting to happen, like one day they’d be discussing the flowers and he’d blurt out, “What fine petunias Councillor, what’s your secret? The last time I managed a bloom this impressive there was a body festering under it.” Levi bent to retrieve his satchel from where it rested against his leg. “Anyway, I must be getting back, enjoy the rest of your day, Sir.”

Whatever Zackly had been about to say was cut off, his mouth snapped shut into a strained smile. “And to you Mr Ackerman, please pass along my regards to your household.” Levi managed a quick nod before beelining out the village, the observers their interaction had drawn in quickly snapped back into their business, steadfastly avoiding eye contact. Nosey bastards. He was at least grateful they didn’t try striking up further conversation, if it had been Isabel or Farlan they would have likely tried.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Levi slammed the door as he walked in, drawing Isabel and Farlan’s attention. They were sat on their beaten old couch, a simple off-grey thing with too thin cushions that the wooden frame underneath could be felt through. Spread out in front of them on the low table were sheets of Farlan’s work, some just scribbled pages of words, others were carefully labeled blueprints for designs. An old orange cloth had also been placed down, on it lay a dark wooden box that swelled out at the base and stood on four stubby legs. Next to it was a pot of glue, several paints and various other tiny pieces of wood and metal. They looked fiddly and delicate, if he’d seen them laying around without Farlan working studiously over them he’d assume be they were scrap. Then Farlan was an enigma in himself. The man could spend days crafting intricate looking mantle clocks, but also waterboard himself by trying to drink while laying down.

“Something happen?” Farlan asked turning back to his work, he had known Levi too long to muster much concern when he turned up angry. Levi shrugged off his cloak and gloves.

“That piece of shit Councillor tried making small talk with me,” he replied. Farlan hummed in acknowledgment as he glued two tiny pieces of painted wood together. Sticking out from behind his right ear was a screwdriver, partially covered his blonde hair, he had more than likely forgotten it was there.

“How’d that go?”

Levi landed on the single armchair they had and yanked off one of his shoes off. “Like a piece of shit tried making small talk with me.”

Rolling her eyes at him, Isabel piped up. “Yeah, yeah, but did you get everything?” Levi held up the satchel and Isabel leaned across Farlan to grab it, causing him to raise the pieces in the air until she pulled back. Pawing through the items with a look of intense concentration on her face, she didn’t complain about the haul; but looked curious.

Her hand dug back in, pulling out the book Eld had given him, “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame?” Her face scrunched up at the title. “So, it’s about a… hunchback?” Levi shrugged. “You got some weird tastes bro,” she sighed tossing him the book, ignoring Farlan’s hissing at projectiles being near his creation.

She sprang up from her seat. “I’ll go do something with these,” she announced, before disappearing into the kitchen. Levi looked at the leather-bound text in his hand, Eld had warned him it might not be his kind of story.

“What _is_ it about?” Farlan asked, also eyeing the book.  


He hadn’t even opened the damn thing yet, how was he meant to know. “A Parisian hunchback probably.” Farlan huffed a laugh, accepting that as the best answer he was going to get, before pulling out some ridiculous looking glasses. They had an additional four lenses on each side, connected by thin strands of metal and could be pushed up out of view. They were used to magnify so Farlan could work with the smaller pieces, he claimed they worked better than regular magnifying glasses and nothing the other two said could convince him to give them up. Levi frowned at the mess scattered across his table.

“What’s this meant to be anyway?”    

Farlan, who had found the screwdriver when the arm of his damn glasses didn’t fit onto his ear, now looked at Levi through the group of lenses, making his eyes appear owlishly large. “It’s a music box,” he lifted the lid and a sweet, tinkling melody drifted out. The box was deep, it could easily fit a person’s hand up to the wrist, the inside was the same dark wood as the exterior, and apart from a platform where a small figure would go it was still empty. It looked simple, but going by the assorted tools and pieces on the rag next to it, it wasn’t going to stay that way for long. Farlan lifted some of the papers searching for something. “Ah! Here,” he held a written page out to Levi’s face. “The buyer,” he checked the paper. “A Miss _Reiss_ , said a friend of hers had one of my clocks for their birthday, and she was so impressed with my _fine_ craftsmanship that she wants to commission a personalised music box.”

“Someone more up your ass than you? That is news,” Levi said, swatting the letter away, Farlan just continued to look smug.

“Don’t be jealous, maybe I’ll make you something.”

“Something to hold his attitude in!” Isabella chimed in from the kitchen.

“I don’t think I’ll ever have enough material for that-”

“Alright!” Levi got to his feet. “You two have fun, I’ll be in my room.” He paused before again scrutinising the cluttered space. “And make sure all this shit gets cleared up. That means you too kid, I just cleaned in there!” A reassuring crash emitted from the kitchen, followed by a hushed string of curses.

It was only late morning, but between the three of them chores tended to be mostly completed by the afternoon. Their first winter here they had been caught hilariously off-guard by the seemingly overnight drop in temperature, and rock solid soil. Ever since then they had been sure to get everything done well in advance, so the most they did in a day was tend to the sheltered animals. The lack of anything to do tended to breed restlessness in their household, it wasn’t as bad for Farlan as his work managed to occupy a lot of his time, but Isabel had no attention span and five types of energy all looking for an outlet.

 

Levi walked over to his bed and propped the pillows up against the headboard before getting comfortable. His room did have a basic desk and chair, but the last time he read there his neck and back protested moving for days. He turned to the first page, resting the book on his bent knees, and noticed it was almost completely new. The paper was white and still held that new smell, none of the corners were boxed and the spine still gave some resistance with a quiet crack. Eld usually got his books second-hand, sent to him by distant friends and relatives, or the occasional trip out of town. Maybe it was petty but Levi suddenly found himself more invested in this book, it hadn’t gone through a countless number of stranger’s licked fingers turning the corners -a habit he and Eld once bonded over their hatred for-.

 

It was several hours later when Levi finally closed the book. He stared down at it like it had spat in his face, half because of the cripplingly injustice of its ending, half he couldn’t believe he’d finished it in one day and not savoured it. This was definitely the strongest emotion he’d ever had towards a hunchback.

After stretching and cracking his stiff neck, he re-emerged in the living room which he was happy to see _had_ been restored to its original non-cluttered state. Isabel was loitering by the kitchen door where Farlan was dishing up food. They both looked over at the sound of Levi descending the stairs.  “Good story I take it?” Farlan teased. It wasn’t the first time they’d lost Levi to a book for an entire day, but in his own defense, it had been a while. He ran a hand down his face, still feeling like he’d just woken up from an unexpected nap.

_Total bullshit, Frollo got off easy._

“Better than watching you glue ballerinas to yourself.”

Farlan sighed, “That was _not_ me.” Isabel ducked her amused face at the unblinking look he shot her.

The fire had been lit, the wood crackled as it burned and the soft orange glow it cast left the room feeling comfortably warm. Isabel zipped in and out of the kitchen collecting two plates, piled on them both was a hunk of ham and several boiled vegetables. She handed one off to Levi before getting comfortable on the couch, her legs tucked beneath her. Farlan took the remaining space on the couch. “I’ll have to leave early tomorrow morning if I want to make it to Trost by the afternoon.” Trost was their second closest town, about six hours away meaning trips there were rare, meaning they usually just waited until traveling merchants came through. “If all goes to plan _hopefully_ I’ll be back by tomorrow night.”

“You finish the box?” Levi asked. Farlan nodded as he ate, gesturing with his fork to the table next to the front door.

“Got done about an hour ago,” he said after he swallowed. Isabel, who had stabbed her ham with a fork and lifted it whole to gnaw on like a wild animal, made an enthusiastic noise. “It looks good as well!” Her mouth was full but she wasn’t deterred. “This lady better pay you what she owes,” she waved her knife warningly.

Levi’s eyebrow rose. “Is there a reason she wouldn’t?”

Farlan shrugged without looking away from his plate, “I did everything she asked in the letter.”

“Yeah but she was very specific, what if it doesn’t match what she wanted _exactly_ and refuses to pay?” Her eyes still narrowed in suspicion. They had spent too long struggling in the city to not know what fickle shitheads people could be, especially the rich and overly entitled.    

“Then we’ll just set you on her,” Farlan said straight-faced before a small smile took over. “I’m taking some tools and spare materials with me so if there is something minor she wants something changed, I can just do there.”

The answer didn’t seem to sate her concerns. “I’m just saying, most people buy what you’ve already made so this is weird… Just make sure you don’t get robbed or something.”

Farlan snorted, shaking his head. “I’m not a total dumbass, I know what I’m doing.”

“You act like a dumbass,” she muttered, shoveling a truly impressive amount of food into her mouth. Farlan turned to fully look at her, eyebrows raised.

“Oh, _I’m_ the dumbass? Really? Spell pyrrhic- no wait, just _define_ pyrrhic.”

Levi sat just watching the two bicker as he ate. Farlan and himself, against all odds, had managed to get a semi-decent education. Or decent enough at least for them for them to run with. Levi had tried passing some of it onto Isabel, but she had long since grown to depend more on her street smarts, she didn’t have any patience or interest in it. She could count money and bat her big green eyes out of trouble, that was enough for her.

“You gonna _spell_ your way out of a fight?” She snapped, hands thrown in the air.

“Maybe I ran into some really specific murderers who would only let me go if I could.”

“That’s when you _stab_ them!”

“I don’t have a knife on me.”

“Then that’s _your_ dumbass fault for not carrying one!”  

Sensing this was going to go on a while Levi cut in, “He’s a big boy, he can handle selling a music box without getting murdered.” Isabel pouted and opened her mouth to argue back before thinking better of it. It was quiet for a moment, then she must have remembered something as she perked up.

“Hey, you wanna see it?” Before he could answer she had already tossed her half-finished plate on the table and bounced over to the desk by the front door.

“Here!” She beamed, thrusting it into Levi’s face happily ignoring the alarmed sounds coming from Farlan. It was the same glossy brown box as before, except now the lid was adorned with clusters of tiny wooden flowers with golden embellishments, and delicate looking patterns were carved into the edges of each side. The stubby legs that had been there were now thinner and rounded. Levi placed his knife and fork down to take the box from her hands. When he lifted the lid that same sweet song played, the sound filling the room along with the ongoing crackle of the fire. Inside, where Levi had been expecting a ballerina, there was instead a miniature couple. A blonde woman was wearing a long blue dress with a masquerade mask to match, she was swooning back into the arms of similarly attired brunette woman, dressed in white.

The front that had been previously hollow was now filled, the platform sat about an inch beneath the couple and was covered with more tiny flowers, all painted different colours. Near the front, however, a small rectangular space had been cut out, it was divided down the centre by a thin piece of wood. Storage space maybe? The box was exquisite, tasteful, but exquisite. “Hm, not bad. What’s this gap for?”  
  
Farlan smirked. “Well, the letter said, ‘include space enough for two rings’ so I can take a wild guess.”

“Ah. How romantic,” Levi replied dryly, closing the lid; careful not to damage any of the decoration. Isabel scooped it back up and placed it back on the table by the door.

“It’s _sweet_ ,” Farlan shot back.

Isabel laughed at him. “Yeah sweet for you ‘cause you get paid.” Farlan looked downright offended.

“Excuse me I happen to be a real romantic at heart.”

“Yeah, your love of money is truly inspiring.” He flipped her off as he took another bite of food. “Maybe Levi’s hunchback will have a friend for you.”  

A few hours later the three saying their goodnights, Isabel didn’t want to move from in front of the fire but Farlan wanted to get an early night. The two men were part way up the creaking stairs, guided by their single candles when Isabel yelped and tumbled off the sofa. “Look!” Her face pressed up against the window. “Snow!”


	2. Go Flagon, Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farlan sets off to deliver Miss Reiss's music box only to become lost and hunted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise ahead of time for any mistakes, I've been debating the length and necessity of this chapter so naturally, I'm just throwing it at you poor, poor people.

Farlan swung a hand out to silence the shrill ringing next to his head and groaned, it was still dark as night and the air was frigid. He’d added another blanket to his bed - this being the third - as well as a leather hot-water bottle, and he’d worn three pairs of socks. It was a valiant effort, but even that wasn’t enough to keep the cold from creeping in during the night. Maybe his alarm was wrong, maybe he’d gotten the day wrong and didn’t actually have to get out of bed in these inhumane conditions. 

The howling winds were easily heard through the thin windows, like circling ghosts ready to pounce on any stupid enough to leave the safety of their homes. The windows were covered by thick curtains which were currently doing nothing to stop the icy draft from robbing Farlan of his precious warmth. He blinked his burning eyes and hoped that the weather would clear the further out he rode. If he had to spend an entire day riding through a blizzard he was going to end up throwing that damn box at Miss Reiss’s head. Romance be damned. Heroically, he stuck one foot out from under the covers. 

So far so good.

The foot slid further out until it encountered the wooden floor where the cold began seeping through the layers of socks. He grimaced but persevered, this time lifting the covers to move his whole body out. Huge mistake.  
With a hiss, he scooped the blankets around his body and stood up. Today was going to be a very long day.

Getting dressed while refusing to drop three blankets had been a challenge, especially as he decided not to take off any of the bedclothes he was wearing when he realised his normal clothes were freezing, but he managed. He tip-toed all the way downstairs, if he woke the other two up this early they’d probably kick him out of the nearest window. Halfway down, however, he realised there was brown lump with a mop of red hair curled up on the couch. He carried on as quietly as possible until he was stood behind it, Isabel was covered by a hefty fur blanket bar the top of her head.

She must have fallen asleep down here trying to stay warm. He fought the urge to ruffle her hair. The fire was completely out now; the charred remains of the firewood were likely as cold as the rest of the room. With a sigh, Farlan crouched to tend to a new fire. No point everyone freezing their asses off today. There was enough firewood to last them a few days but they hadn’t been anticipating snow this early, Levi would probably go get more while Farlan was away.

After building up a tidy nest of logs and tinder, he struck a match and the fire slowly came to life as the flames began to grow. 

“Time is it?” Came a sleepy mumble from behind him. He turned his head to see Isabel’s squinting eyes peeking over the blanket. 

“Just after five, go back to sleep.” 

She covered her face again with a groan, “You’re going now?”

Farlan smiled and patted where he thought her leg was. “Afraid so.” 

He’d already packed everything he’d need into his saddlebags, food, and water in one of the hanging bags, the music box carefully packaged in the other, while tools and money were in the upper cantle bag. He doubled checked everything anyway, he’d dressed for the weather but that didn’t mean he wanted to spend longer than necessary out there. “Take a knife with you.”

Farlan lifted his foot to pat his boot, “Always do.” He pulled on his boots and favourite cloak, it was dark blue, with fur lining that reached his knees. He’d bought it last winter only to have Isabel steal it for half the season. One time he stumbled into the living room, ready to demand she give it back before he froze to death, only to find her and Levi bundled up in it. She was fully curled up with only her face exposed but Levi was sat normally, his crossed legs sticking out, as though she’d found him sat there and decided to wrap him up as well. The two had looked up at him as he entered, he stared back for a moment before doubling over with laughter.

He smiled at the memory as he leaned down to peck her on the head, “Tell Levi I said bye.” 

The blanket mumbled incoherently, shifting for a moment before a dainty hand slithered out to pat his arm. He walked back to the door and hoisted his saddlebags into his arm, “I’ll see you later.” He reached for the door handle, took a steadying breath, and opened.

The icy wind that hit his face made him want to slam the door shut again if he thought yesterday was bracing today was downright alarming. Isabel gave a displeased yelp behind him as what little heat the room had was sucked out, he pushed through and slammed the door behind him. It had snowed heavily through the night, leaving a thick blanket of undisturbed snow coated over everything as far as Farlan could see. His boots sank in as he trudged toward their stables, the wind peppered with a light flurry of snowflake whipping around his face as he went. The thick gloves made getting the padlock key from his pocket a challenge, he fumbled around two-handed trying to straighten it in his grasp.

The wind fought against him as he yanked at the large wooden door, kicking at the snow that built up as it dragged open. Unsurprisingly, the barn wasn’t much warmer than outside. There was a small heater in the centre of the stalls which ate more of the firewood than the one in their house, but it was necessary for the animals. The farm was modest, consisting of only three horses, three cows, two pigs and twelve chickens, but he and Isabel loved animals too much to kill them so raising more was impractical. 

“Morning boy,” Farlan greeted his horse, Flagon. A handsome brown horse with a white patch on his head who, thanks to Levi’s abnormally good stitching, was wearing a large blanket that had been fashioned into a winter coat. “You are not gonna be my friend today.” Flagon whinnied as his saddle was hoisted from its stand and buckled around him, “I know, tell me about it.” Farlan couldn’t blame him if their positions were reversed he’d have already kicked his owner’s head for even suggesting going outside in this weather.  
He fed the rest of the animals. It was earlier than their usual feeding time but Flagon would irritable the entire day otherwise, and he didn’t want the rest of the barn to feel left out. Cows have surprisingly good puppy-dog eyes. It then took more coercion to get Flagon outside with the blanket of snow on the ground, but eventually, they set off.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

And they were lost. Farlan fought the urge to pound his face into a tree as he glared down at the sodden map in his icy hands. The two had been out for a good three hours now and the weather had somehow gotten worse, the wind picking up enough that at times it threatened to tip Farlan off his saddle. Somewhere along the way, they must have taken the wrong turn- well Farlan must have taken the wrong turn, Flagon was innocent in this- but they were now stuck in the middle of the forest during the worst blizzard he had ever seen. 

“I swear we’ve been down here before,” he mumbled, lips numb from the cold. They had passed a signpost earlier; all the writing was worn and unintelligible but it promised civilisation would be somewhere. Flagon was just as miserable, his occasional neighed protests answered by soothing rubs and agreements from his owner. 

The path they were on split into two which Farlan tried to find on the map, but only succeeded in worsening a tear that hadn’t been there when he left. “Which way boy?” Both ways looked pretty much the same, maybe they ended at the same place? He lifted the reins and nudged Flagon to the right, but he resisted stepping back and letting out a whine with a defiant shake of his head. “I know, I know but this place can’t go on forever,” Farlan promised, feeling like a liar and a terrible owner. 

He nudged again, more forceful this time, and Flagon hesitantly took them forward. Something was spooking him, every other step his head shot to the side like he’d seen something move. Flagon was not a nervous horse, he had been Farlan’s escape plan more time than he could count in the city, so his hesitance now was unnerving. “What is it? Something out there?” He squinted at the bare bushes, their spider-like twigs covered in snow, but everything was perfectly undisturbed. “It’s fine, see. Nothing out there,” he wondered who he was trying to reassure as patted the horse’s neck.

They continued at the cautious pace, snow crunching under Flagon’s hooves, the wind a constant whisper in the trees. They made it about fifty yards down the path when something next to them skittered. Farlan’s mind said, ‘it’s probably just a rodent’ but Farlan’s mouth said, “Fuck, go boy go!” As Flagon broke out into a sprint, the dark bushes around them split open and several huge grey wolves burst out. “Shit,” Farlan leaned down making himself smaller, keeping his face forward. “Come on, boy!” The two tore along the path, Farlan almost bounced from the saddle several times as Flagon darted in-between the trees but the wolves stayed hot on their heels. 

Had Farlan been cold before? He certainly wasn’t anymore, the sweat now pouring off him as a particularly angry looking wolf snapped at his foot. He pulled his foot from the stirrup and kicked down, hard. The wolf fell back; it wasn’t much comfort however as his friends were still pounding after them. Farlan’s teeth were ground together if he hadn’t gotten them lost if they hadn’t already been out here for hours if he’d have just waited a few days to take Miss Reiss her damn music box. This is not how he planned on dying, who gets eaten? 

Suddenly the wolf Farlan had kicked pounced out of the snow-covered growth straight onto the path in front of them. Flagon reared up with a terrified neigh, unbalancing Farlan, “Woah boy! Don’t-” with one great buck, Farlan was sent tumbling backward off the horse. His hands shot out to protect himself, while the snow cushioned his fall somewhat he still landed heavily on his back as his head smacked against the ground. Flagon took off, thundering back along the path they had just taken, five wolves chasing after him. Farlan lay on the ground watching them, too dazed and winded to do much else, he hoped Flagon got away; maybe even found his way home. 

A deep growl drew his attention, that same fucking wolf was stood snarling at him a few feet away. The two watched each other for a moment, locked in a stalemate, Farlan was not even close to being a match for this beast but for it was still cautious. This was as close to a chance as he was going to get, keeping his eyes fixed on the snarling face he slowly reached down for his boot. The growls got louder as he moved, he stilled the hand, waiting for a moment before slowly carrying on again. By the time he reached his knee the wolf had lost whatever patience it had and lunged for him with an open mouth. 

Farlan abandoned his attempt to reach the knife and rolled backward, springing to his feet just in time. The wolf was undeterred, pouncing again for his leg only to receive another solid kick to the snout. In what occurred to him as a dumbass move the second after he did it, Farlan took off running through the trees. He had bought himself a few seconds, but not enough time to outrun a wolf! God, he missed just running from the police. 

The ground started to become steep as the two of them sprinted downhill, cutting through the trees with speed Farlan didn’t think he could manage these days. His victory was cut short however as his foot caught in a root hidden by the snow. He slammed into the ground before tumbling in freefall down the hill.

He came to an abrupt stop at the bottom, when his back hit against a tall black fence. Every inch of his body was battered, he was almost grateful to the snow for its numbing cold as that fall should have hurt a lot more. He could see the wolf slowly descending, following the ragged break in the snow where his body had rolled. He tried to push himself up on weak arms only to slip back down, he could taste blood from what must have been a split lip as he slumped back, watching the wolf’s approach. It had reached the bottom of the hill and was slowly drawing closer. Farlan closed his eyes, numb and exhausted, hoping it would be over quickly at least if he was about to be ripped into pieces he really didn’t want it to drag out.

He waited, muscles tense like his body hadn’t quite given up yet, but he his eyes remained closed. As a final insult to injury, his brain decided to remember Isabel telling him to watch himself out here, him rolling his eyes at her; saying he wasn’t a dumbass… oh, the irony. A few more moments passed. Then a few more. He realised he had been waiting longer than he expected and was tempted to crack an eye open when he heard a yelp, and a retreating sprint take off through the snow. 

His eyes shot open. What? The wolf was running back up the hill as fast as it had chased him down it, its fur raised in terror. Farlan stared, frozen into place not willing to risk tempting it back down. When it was clear that the wolf wasn’t planning on returning he dropped his throbbing head down in the snow. Whatever had spooked the creature into leaving he didn’t care, he would marry that damn thing, have that thing’s children! He started laughing, the adrenaline draining from his blood as relief washed over him. He brought his stiff hands up to his face and dug the heels of his palms into eyes.

Now that things had calmed down his body seemed eager to remind him he’d just been thrown from a horse, and down a hill in the snow. The back of his head throbbed, and blood from his lip was warm dripping down his chin. Slowly pushing himself up to lean against the fence, he quickly realised his back had taken the worst beating as he hissed the moment he felt any pressure on his ribs. He tested his feet, they both seemed fine but his knees were offended at the slight movement. When he told Isabel and Levi this story later he would probably leave out a few details.


	3. Enter the palace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farlan walks into an enchanted castle. Hanji's overjoyed and Moblit needs a nap. Also, enter Eren. The original beastie boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter drained exactly 7 years of my life, I can no longer tell whether it makes sense.

Now he wasn’t running for his life his body seemed to remember all the beatings it just took at once. The back of his head throbbed a radiating pain, and warm blood trickled down his chin from his stinging lip. Leaning against the fence, he slowly heaved himself upright only to realise his back had taken the worst of the damage. He cringed at the bruises he knew would be painted across his ribs and tested his footing, his ankles seemed fine but his knees were banged and aching. When he told Isabel and Levi this story later he would probably leave out a few details. 

He shucked the snow from his clothes and straightened before looking around. The fence he was gripping onto this wasn’t just dividing parts of the woods like he had initially thought, it was surrounding a massive palace. 

It was made up of thick white stone only slightly darker than the snow that lay on and around it, with pointed turrets of varying heights surrounding what must have been the main building in the centre. The property itself was so large that from this close he was only seeing one tiny corner of it. He wondered how long it would take to walk the entire perimeter, even if someone did they’d probably miss something. 

Its magnificent architecture aside, the thing Farlan was most excited to see was a warm light coming from one of the windows on the ground floor. He glanced along the fence for a way in and spotted its gates on the side. They were wide, tall and just as imposing as the rest of the property with huge golden accents in the centre and along the edges of the two gates. Holding onto the fence the entire way he limped over, resting a hand on the gold design in the centre when he reached them. As he was weighing up whether he was fit to try climbing them, he felt the metal shifted under his hand. When pressed a little more and the gate gave in easily, the only resistance he met was from the snow it dug into. 

“Oh, thank god.”

He trudged up the huge path to the ornate door, which he assumed was the front door but then this place was ridiculously large and began pounding on the lion-head knocker. There was no answer. He waited, stepping back to peer into the nearest window but the inside was dark, maybe they couldn’t hear him over the unrelenting weather. He tried again, this time just using the side of his fist when the door creaked open.

It opened a few inches before stopping. No one was technically letting him in but this was an emergency. If he waited for someone to hear his knocking he could freeze to death and then what? They’d have to remove his frozen, dead boy from their front steps and that seemed like a much bigger imposition. 

Entering cautiously, he called out, “Hello? Is anybody here? I don’t mean to intrude it’s just that I got stranded in the storm.” The foyer was easily bigger than the cottage, the floors alone probably cost more than the entire farm. “Hello?” He pushed the door shut with a deep click and stepped in fully, grimacing at the wet footprints he was trailing. Further in he could see the faint glow of a fire pouring out from a doorway. 

“Hello? I’m sorry about barging in like this I just-” the fire was lit, but the room was empty.

He peeked out and glanced around, there were no other candles lit, no other rooms with signs of life. He glanced at the huge staircase, which looked unsettlingly dark considering it was still early morning, and then back at the fire. He could wander around the massive, eerily dark castle, dripping water everywhere he went. Or, he could wait here, by the nice, roaring fire, which the owner would probably come back to eventually. Decision made, he worked his sodden cloak off with numb fingers that were certainly going to burn soon and let it drop onto the floor. He stumbled over the fire and fell to his knees on the brown fur rug in front of it, arms spread out so the heat could reach his chest.  
He let out a sigh as the warmth reached his face, his nose and cheeks had been numbed for hours now, but he welcomed the sting of his blood waking up.

As he rubbed his hands together a panicked whisper came from the foyer. “What did you do?” 

Farlan’s head snapped around. “Hello?” 

A giggle was being frantically hushed.

Farlan got to his feet and hurried to the door, “I’m sorry to intrude, some wolves spooked my horse and I got lost in the woods.” He saw a flash of someone disappearing into one of the darkened rooms before the door slammed. “I’m not dangerous, I swear.” Not at the moment anyway. He approached the room slowly, with raised hands. “I just needed somewhere to-”

The voices, muffled behind the door, were too caught up in a back and forth to respond.

Farlan waited a few paces away awkwardly. “My names Farlan Church, I’m from a small village not too far from here, uh Stohess? Do you- know of it? It’s…pretty small.” 

“I know it!” replied one of the voices, a woman’s voice, which was then hissed at but Farlan brightened all the same.

“Oh, you do? That’s great because I have no idea where I am right now,” he admitted with a chuckle. 

The voice sounded again but it was just noise, like someone trying to speak through a covered mouth, before a different voice yelped in pain. 

“In this weather? Gosh, well you did the right thing by coming in! I cannot tell you how glad I am you came in.” 

Farlan rubbed his hands together again, they were starting to burn pretty fiercely. “Oh god no I should be thanking you. I am sorry to have just let myself in like that, but I saw your light on and thought maybe you couldn’t hear me over the storm.” 

Several more noises came from the room, thuds, and bumps, a loud crash, “No, no Hanji don’t!” Then something slam against the door. Farlan backed up before it was wrenched open. Stood there, with one hand on the door, the other on the frame was… a statue. A life-sized, brass statue of a woman with white hair. That was grinning at him. That was moving, oh Christ!

His treacherous legs stopped working, his already aching knees suddenly gave and he fell backward onto the ground, staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the statue. It didn’t seem to have the same reservations, “Aww I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” it cooed. It was the woman he’d just been talking to, her skin and clothes were entirely brass but her hair was something else, something smooth and white. She bounced forward and crouched down in front of him, causing him to shove back on his elbows, “I’m Hanji.” She extended her hand, “It’s nice to meet you Farlan.” 

He stared at the unnaturally still hand, the dim light that filtered through the window casting a shine on it. Statue woman or not, manners were manners, so he reached out to shake it, “L-likewise.” It felt just as it looked. Like metal. He watched it grip and enthusiastically shake his reddened hand with fascination.  
Hanji grinned again before calling over her shoulder, “See Moblit, Farlan’s nice!” A groan echoed out from the room. “Sorry for not giving you a heads-up about this,” she gestured over her body. “But I figure seeing is believing and all that.” Farlan was still just staring at her, unable to understand what he was seeing. The woman was wearing glasses which appeared to be fused to her tied-back hair by three straps around the back of her head. Her clothes were a simple buttoned shirt and jacket with slacks, they were formal but not royal. 

“What- uh… what?” Was asking a person what they were rude? It seemed like a reasonable question to Farlan but then he’d never needed to ask it before. 

“What am I?” She supplied, he nodded. “A scientist.”

There was a beat, “Oh…” 

Suddenly she burst into a cackling laughter. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding- well partially kidding, I am a scientist but I’m also-” her hands gestured down her body again, “-a candlestick.”

Farlan looked up and down her form and yes, that seemed right. The white substance that made up her hair must have been wax. “A candlestick?” She shuffled to sit cross-legged next to him. “Have you… always been a candlestick?” 

She sighed, resting her chin on her hand, “No this was done to me- well, all of us!” The last part she aimed at the door she’d come from, but was met with silence.  
Farlan frowned and sat up, “You’re all candlesticks?” 

“No, no, different objects, same story.” She casually shrugged, like this was something that usually happened to people. Before Farlan could press the issue further, a shudder violent to make his teeth clack together ran through his body as he continued to thaw out. Hanji looked alarmed, “Oh, you are frozen, look at you!” She grabbed his wrists and yanked him up, causing him to yelp as his abused back was jostled. “We need to get you back by the fire.”

“Hanji no,” came the desperate voice from the room, but she ignored it and steered Farlan back into the living area. She shooed him forward, stopping to grab his cloak from where he’d dropped it before laying it out in front of the fire next to him. He awkwardly kneeled in front of the fire as she moved about, picking up a blanket from a red chair with a tall back and carved wooden arms, before draping it around his shoulders. 

She then straightened up and beamed at something in the doorway. “Mob, meet Farlan!” Farlan did not want to turn around, he was pretty sure he wanted to turn around about as much as this Moblit wanted him to turn around.

Alas, curiosity won out and he slowly turned his head to the door. There, stood very nervously, was a wooden man. The front of his chest was made of glass, which a swinging pendulum could be seen through. His grimacing face, as wooden as the rest of body, had clock numbers painted on it. Farlan gawked before realising that was probably not the best way to greet a visibly uncomfortable person, and awkwardly raised a hand, “Hello.”

The man mirrored the pose, “Hi.” 

There was a metallic thunk where Hanji gleefully clapped her hands together. “See? We’re getting along already!”

Moblit didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm, when he spoke his voice was quiet but firm. “Hanj, I’m sorry but he needs to go. You know what will happen if-” he cast a look over his shoulder, “-if he finds him here.” 

Hanji didn’t respond immediately; her face didn’t drop as much as it hardened. “Do I?” She turned her head to the window, the snow was still falling. “I’m not sure I do, seeing as nothing like this has ever happened before, I really don’t think I do know what would happen.” Moblit ran a hand down his face, checking the foyer again. “What I do know, however, is what sending him away would mean. Are you really giving up now?” 

Giving up? What were they giving up on? Farlan looked between the two as they were stared each other down. “If there’s a problem I can go, I just need directions and I can-”  
Hanji clapped her hands down his shoulders, halting his attempt to stand. “No, no don’t be ridiculous, you are more than welcome here, Moblit can just be a tad over cautious.” Moblit was looking despairingly at her, trying to speak to her without using words but she didn’t even glance at him. Instead, she turned and grabbed a fire poker to nudge at the wood, despite the fire already burning away happily.

The tense silence that had settled over the room made Farlan consider grabbing his cloak and seeing himself out, sodden clothes be damned. He didn’t want to cause these… people any trouble. 

Apparently accepting any attempt at changing Hanji’s mind as a lost cause, Moblit released a resigned sigh. “Please be careful.” 

“I’m hardly going to burn myself,” she said in an amused voice, demonstratively wiggling her brass fingers in the air above her shoulder. 

“You know that’s not what I meant!” Farlan was actually starting to feel for this Moblit guy. God knows how many times he’d had to drag Isabel away from poorly chosen fights, or treacherous riverbanks. Not to mention the bi-weekly reminders to Levi that punching Counsellor Zackly was not going to end well for any of them. Hanji suddenly stopped jabbing the fire, bolted upright and spun around with a gasp. “Where are our manners?” The poker was thrust back into its holder and she took off for the door, pausing just long enough to grab onto Moblit’s shoulders with a thud. “Tea! Our guest just came in from the snow and we haven’t even offered him tea!” 

She was out before poor Moblit could even react, he tried to grab onto her but she was gone. The two waited in silence, Farlan looking around the room, Moblit staring at the carpet. The room was surprisingly sparse, there was a writing desk on one side of the room, a cupboard with several draws, a cushioned window ledge, but the only chair around the great fireplace was the red one Hanji had gotten the blanket from. Everything looked expensive and carefully crafted, but it couldn’t be the main living room, perhaps a morning room? He’d heard those were a thing.

“She seems nice…”

Moblit jumped at being addressed, “Oh uh- she is, really, but she can just get a little…enthusiastic at times.”

That sounded familiar, “And reckless by any chance?”

“Oh god yes,” he groaned. “Like you wouldn’t believe.” 

The crackling fire was doing wonders to sooth Farlan’s bruised body, even if his skin was still burning as it warmed and his back was grieved at being used. He was tempted to make himself more comfortable on the rug, it was thick and softer than even his cloak, but on the off-chance Hanji was going to bounce back in to kick him out, he didn’t want to be presumptuous. “You know, this place is incredible, are you the owners?”

Moblit managed a weak laugh. “No, we’re, well I’m a servant and Hanji’s a scientist, but we both live here.” He looked down at his glass chest, “We can’t exactly go anywhere else.”  
What was the politest way of asking what the ever-loving fuck turns a man into a clock? Moblit didn’t look like he was going to offer any further explanations, and Farlan was already on thin ice with the man. An approaching rattling sound cut through their silence, drawing their attention. 

“We’re back!” 

Moblit had just enough to leap out of the way when Hanji came in followed by a short woman, as short as Levi probably, with a tea trolley. The woman looked to be entirely porcelain. Both her skin and clothes were a pure smooth white, that the light from the fireplace quietly danced over. Her hair and wide eyes, however, were tinted a light pink. 

“Farlan this is Petra, Petra this is Farlan, we brought you some tea.” 

Petra flashed a nervous smile at him and nodded before busying herself with pouring tea. Was everyone scared of him? Logically, he had a lot more reason to fear them, and he probably should have been. Maybe he was still in shock from the cold. 

He put on the pleasantest smile possible with a still aching lip and nodded to her. “Petra? That’s a nice name.” 

Her shoulders were still stiff, but her face did relax into a more genuine smile. “Thank you, I was just thinking I’ve never heard your name before. Farlan,” she tested saying his name, and he nodded at her pronunciation. Satisfied, she turned back to the trolley began pouring out his tea. “Do you take milk and sugar?” 

“Yes, both. I have a friend who says I ruin perfectly good tea that way, but I just can’t drink it otherwise.” 

“Oh I know what you mean, I’m the same!” Hanji announced as Petra finished stirring his drink. Did they eat and drink? From the look on Moblit’s face, probably not. If they used to be completely human then they must have once, how long had they been stuck like this? Farlan stood up to receive his drink only to have Hanji grab his arm and shove him back until he landed in the chair with a winded huff. He gritted his teeth as the bruises on his back flared up. “You’re the guest Farlan, relax.” The horrified expressions on Petra and Moblit’s faces were not relaxing. Hanji took the cup and saucer from Petra’s hand, she didn’t look like was going to move for a while… or blink, and handed it to Farlan. 

“Hanji that’s-”

“That’s the only chair by the fire in this room, Petra.” 

Moblit had apparently given up and was stood facing the wall with his face buried in hands. Farlan sat tensely, hand on an arm of the chair ready to descend again. “You know, I was fine on the floor, I wouldn’t want to get your furniture wet.”

Hanji held up her hands to stop him. “You’re hurt- and don’t say you’re not because I know you are.”

Petra snorted, “Well his face is smeared with blood, that was a pretty big clue.”

“And we did watch him roll down that hill,” Moblit added, pulling his face out of his hands. 

Hanji waved her hand, “Yes, but more importantly, I can just tell.” 

Farlan touched his chin, it felt tacky with drying blood. The feeling spread onto his cheek and he realised he must have swiped it across without realising. He chuckled, “No wonder you’re so nervous about me being here, I just broke in covered with blood.” 

Petra wrung out a small white cloth in a bowl of water he hadn’t seen on the trolley and made her way over to him. “I’m sorry it’s not you, we’re just concerned about the Master of the palace. He’s not… very sociable.” 

Holding his face still with two feather-light fingers on his forehead, she dapped at the blood with the damp cloth. “Don’t worry, I’m used to handling unsociable people,” he assured her. She smiled uneasily back at him. It was true though, Levi had the most appalling people skills Farlan had ever seen but they managed to become best friends. But this master wasn’t Levi, likely wasn’t even human. It was still early so hopefully, he wouldn’t be awake yet, assuming he slept, and Farlan could be in and out without a confrontation.

“If you have a map or some directions back to Stohess, I can just be out of your hair before anyone knows I was here.” 

Petra frowned, “Stohess is hours away by horse, we’re not sending you back out there like this.” She looked over at Hanji and Moblit, “He’s staying.” Hanji grinned at her victoriously, Moblit stared pleadingly, but her mind was made up. “Are you hurt anywhere else? Hanji said you took quite the fall.”

“Uh it ’s just bruising I think, my back took the worst of it.” 

“Well we need to get you into dry clothes anyway, Hanji why don’t you go get him some and I can make sure there’s nothing-”

She was cut off by a crash.

The three of them froze in place. 

“Master Eren please,” a distant voice pleaded. “They were only trying to help!”

Moblit moved further into the room, his head bowed, but Hanji straightened up and moved to the door; ready to greet the approaching footsteps. Petra threw the cloth on the small table next to the chair, she stood in front of Farlan protectively. 

Hanji held up her hands placatingly, but her voice held firm. “Now just relax for a second, remember what we talked about, breathe.” She was shoved aside, and through the door entered an exceptionally tall… man? No, not a man, he was clothed and his skin appeared to be skin but his face was unnatural; both sets of teeth were fully exposed, his eyes glowed green like they were burning, his ears were pointed and sharp like a devil. The sight made Farlan’s body numb with fear, for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. 

The beastly looking man charged for him and instinct took over, he reached down and pulled the knife from his boot, spinning it in his hand to get a better grip as he bounced out of the chair. The thing stopped and glared at the knife, it now occurred to Farlan that this probably wasn’t the best move. A thought that was proven right when he found himself backhanded halfway across the room. “Who are you?” The beast hissed, but Farlan couldn’t answer, the pain radiating through his head was nauseating. “What are you doing here?”  
Petra, who had clearly not been ready for the situation to escalate like this, sprang forward to grab at the man’s arm, “Master Eren please, he just got lost in the woods, he doesn’t mean-”

“He just tried to attack me Petra,” he roared, yanking his arm free of her grasp. 

Farlan scrambled to sit up, “I’m sorry, I-I panicked, I didn’t mean-”

“What are you staring at?” The man’s eyes were burning into Farlan’s, he knew he should look away, beg forgiveness, play dead, something. “Are you here to try and kill me? Did someone send you?” 

He tried to shake his head but stopped when it caused a deep throb to pound through his abused skull. “I- I'm not…”

The man stormed forward, “Don’t lie to me, you piece of shit.” He grabbed the front of Farlan’s jumper and lifted him into the air, “Let’s go.”

He heard Hanji and Petra’s pleas for the man to calm down before he was slammed back into the wall. Hard.


	4. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Isabel realise something's wrong and track Farlan to a palace, where they find him imprisoned by a beast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I'm not overjoyed at my work but by god, I spent too damn much time to let it rot somewhere. Please enjoy, shoutout any glaring errors and drink plenty of water.

It was afternoon; the sky had finally stopped dumping snow on them but it was still too cold to leave the sanctuary of their living room. Isabel did like the snow. Liked how it looked, liked playing in it, _loved_ watching people slip over it in, but she did not approve of these temperatures. She and Levi had been sat around the fire most of the day, he had braved the horrific weather earlier to check on the animals but soon returned, stealing one of her blankets that she herself had stolen from Farlan’s room. He’d been sat in his chair occupying himself with tea and polishing while she’d been finger knitting… something.

To say she was bored was an insult the mind-numbing tedium she was currently going through. She was summoning the courage to drag them both outside to enjoy the snow when something at the window caught her eye. It was Flagon… without Farlan. Blanket nest forgotten she got to her feet, “Flagon?” Levi turned to look as well, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

They both moved to the window but Farlan wasn’t anywhere to be seen. All concerns for the cold were forgotten as Isabel’s stomach shot through the floor. She scrambled to put on boots and a cloak before throwing open the door to rush over to Flagon. She grabbed his face, trying to look him the eye, “Flag, where’s Farlan, Flag?” He didn’t answer, of course, just squirmed and huffed. Levi emerged a moment later clad in his green cloak, pulling on gloves.

“I’ll take Flagon and go look for him.”

Isabel snorted, “And what I just stay here? Like hell that’s happening, wait here!” She pointed firmly at him before ducking back inside for the stable key, when she got back out Levi was looking Flag over, his saddlebags were full of Farlan’s things. When she reached the stable, she fumbled the key in shaking fingers that had nothing to do with the cold. Farlan should only just be reaching Trost now, what in god’s name had he done to get into trouble before even getting there?

She saddled up her horse, Tulip, lead her outside before slamming the padlock back together. Levi now sat atop Flagon, easing his reins back to turn him towards the road. “Nothing was taken so it probably wasn’t a robbery unless Flag just took off before anyone could get to him.” _Comforting, bro._ “If he left at five he’s only been gone about seven hours, meaning they got separated about three or four hours ago.”

Isabel climbed on Tulip. “Do you know which way he would go to get to Trost?”

“I have a pretty good idea, but I’m hoping this one will take the lead when we’re close,” he tapped his foot against Flagon’s side. The horse looked impatient, snorting with a shake his mane as they spoke.

“Okay let’s go, let’s go!” Isabel bucked Tulip into motion, Levi riding in front of them, and they were off.       

      

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If Flagon was tired from his adventures today he didn’t show it, Levi barely had to guide him as he charged unwaveringly back to the spot he had lost Farlan. They arrived faster than they had been expecting, partway into some woods Flagon stopped dead, refusing to move as he whinnied in distress. The snow was heavily disturbed, it looked as though something had rolled around in it before taking off into the trees. Isabel dismounted to inspect the area, whatever had been here was long gone but something had caught her eye.

“Pawprints,” the words left her mouth in a white puff of air, she was surprised she could speak around the tightness in her throat. A little way off from the wrecked snow were four paw prints that were starting to fade, judging from the size they were from a big animal, probably a wolf. “Are these…do you think?” Her voice broke, no. She couldn’t even think like that.

Farlan was a dork who got excited about birds, but he wasn’t about to die because of a damn wolf! He’d taken on four guys before and came out with nothing but bloody knuckles and a few bruises. Levi was staring into the woods with a level expression like he was perusing a market stall and not preparing himself for the very real possibility that they were about to find Farlan’s mauled corpse.

He didn’t say anything, just urged Flagon forward to follow the trail. Isabel pulled herself onto Tulip but everything felt off, like this wasn’t real and she was going to wake up any minute to Farlan calling her down to breakfast. She’d grumble all the way down the stairs, flop onto their sofa and bury her face until food was forced onto her. Farlan would take his place next to her, she’d probably have stolen his cloak which he would stick his feet under in protest, Levi would drink his tea, and list off the day’s chores.

The jagged line in the snow was one consistent drag mark, the occasional impression of a boot’s tread or a paw print just barely distinguishable. Isabel tightened her grip on Tulip’s reins, the beast must have been inches away from him for their paths to be so entwined. There was a break in the trail, a thick branch jutted through the snow like a loose thread on a blanket, after which, the disturbance in the snow became wider and disordered. “Tree root,” Levi stated, barely glancing down as he carried on. “He must have tripped.” 

They edged further down the hill when a black fence, previously concealed behind the trees, appeared at the bottom. Suddenly, both horses stopped and let out distressed neighs before desperately trying to back up. “Hey girl whoa, what’re you doing?” Tulip wasn’t listening, she whinnied and fought against her reins, hooves slipping in the snow. “Tulip no, _stop_!”

Levi was having the same amount of luck with Flagon. “They’re not gonna go any further, let’s hitch them here and go down ourselves.”

They rode the horses back up the hill, just enough for them to calm down before tying them to some trees. “Damn animal,” Levi muttered, pushing a hand against Flag’s nose. He responded by shaking his head with a snort. Isabel pressed her forehead into Tulip’s neck underneath her mane and muttered a few assurances, that everything would be okay, they’d be right back with Farlan.

Farlan’s descent came to an obvious stop against the fence, before footprints moved off to the side. The tension drained out of her like a plug had been pulled, perhaps prematurely as there were a few drops of blood here and there, but no torn off limbs or wolf chewed corpses. The fence was encasing what could have only been a palace. The thing was bigger than their entire marketplace, and even under knee-deep snow, the grandeur of it was obvious. There were statues dotted around on it for godsake. Statues!

The site had them both distracted as they gripped onto the bars, pausing before they followed Farlan’s footprints. “Huh, not bad,” Levi appraised. His nose and cheeks were flushed red from the cold and the rest of his face had turned translucently pale, but his eyes were bright. Isabel probably looked a similar state, her ears and hands were ready to fall off in this cold but she didn’t care. She was so giddy with relief not even her chattering teeth could stop her from beaming.

“Of course, we haul over here all worried about him and he’s cosying up with some royalty,” she tutted. “He better remember us when he’s the next King.”

The two followed the footprints around the fence, through the gate, and up to the front door where they ended. Levi raised an eyebrow at the golden lion head with a knocker hanging from its mouth, it is a weird thing to put on a door, before raising a gloved hand to slam it down a few times. They waited. And waited. A good minute had passed with no signs of life, surely a place this size has _someone_ manning the door? Isabel huffed and muttered, “Come on rich people, how’re you gonna show off if no one answers your damn door.” She lifted the knocker and pounded it down herself for good measure.

Another thirty seconds passed but before she could start hammering away again, Levi laid a hand on her shoulder. He guided her back a few steps before lifting his foot, and driving it straight into the wood. She’d been expecting the wood to splinter off its hinges, sure they’d have to apologise to the owners but hell, they could afford it. What neither of them had been ready for was the door swinging open, like it had been unlocked the entire time. She froze, waiting tensely for some old butler to jump out and scold them for battering down the fancy door. But that also never came.

“I think it was already open,” she whispered.

“Seems so.”

Sure, they probably shouldn’t be breaking and entering, especially as these people probably just saved Farlan’s life, but really, who has a door knocker that big that no one can hear? The inside was unsurprisingly spacious and polished; the room was divided down the centre by a staircase with three doors on either side of the room. “Hello?” Isabel called, “Farlan? Anyone?”

When no reply came she shrugged at Levi and wandered further in, her arms swinging loosely at her sides as they walked. “Maybe they’re all upstairs?” She glanced up, the entire ceiling was a mosaic that held a massive chandelier.

“It is a big ass house,” Levi agreed, also looking up at the chandelier.

Isabel couldn’t say she minded having the chance to look around - not that finding Farlan wasn’t a priority - but this was a _big_ ass house. “Maybe we should check down here first? You know, just to be sure.” From the expression on Levi’s face, she wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Don’t take, move, or break anything,” he warned. She let out a tiny victorious squeak before taking off to the last door on the right-hand side. It was ajar slightly so she pressed her face in close to try peer in.

“Hello? Anyone in here?” No reply, but the tell-tale sound of burning wood. She pushed the door opened slowly, just in case, and poked her head in. There was a single red chair plonked in front of a lit fireplace big enough to cremate a grown man, but no people. Not much of anything really, just a desk and some drawers shoved up against the walls.

She went in anyway, if nothing else it had a fire and her entire body had been shivering for the past two hours at least. “There’s a fire in here,” she called back before moving to collapse on the rug. The fire felt incredible, warming up her frozen skin so well she felt herself leaning into it, third-degree burns be damned. “We need one this size.”

Levi followed in behind her, instead of rushing over to the fire he moved to a desk she hadn’t even noticed and started poking around its drawers. “They light a fire that size then leave? What’s the point -” his voice cut off abruptly.

Isabel shuffled around, keeping as much of her body near the fire as possible. “What’s wrong?”

He walked over to a corner, partly concealed by a small chest of drawers and picked something up. It was Farlan’s knife.

She was on her feet in a second, the cold immediately forgotten as Levi studied the knife in his hands with a scowl. “We do the rest of this quietly.” She nodded in affirmation, checking her for her own knife was still folded in her pocket. Levi didn’t reach for his own though, just held Farlan’s in a white-knuckle grip as he jerked his head towards the door. They were much quieter this time as they checked the other rooms, quietly pushing open the door before glancing in and moving on.

Isabel had checked two, both dark and void of people when there was a noise behind them.

She whirled around instantly, flicking open her knife as she did, in her peripheral she saw Levi do the same. The noise was a rhythmic clinking on the stairs that was gradually getting louder. A glass ball with a deep green stone in the centre, like one of the ornamental paperweights they had at the town hall, was slowly dropping down each step. The two didn’t move, just watched until it finally smacked into the marble and rolled towards them.

There was no one at the top of the stairs that she could see, but whoever pushed it down must still be up there watching them. The hairs on the back of Isabel’s neck stood on end. This was obviously a trap, a quick look at Levi confirmed he was probably thinking the same thing, but she wasn’t scared. Whoever it was up those stairs had lost the moment they let the two of them walk in. Farlan was around here somewhere, hopefully just hurt, if these people wanted to lead them further in they were just saving them time.

Levi nodded to her and they walked forward in synch, each taking a side of the stairs. They looked like they were made of white marble, probably were, and started wider at the bottom; thinning at the top but it still looked wide enough for at least five people. The banisters were golden with a fleur de lis designs running along the centres. If the situation hadn’t been so tense she would have probably made a joke about overcompensating, or how seriously these people took banister sliding. When they reached the top of the first set of stairs they closed ranks to stand back to back while assessing the deserted passages.

“Which way?” She whispered.

A creaking door slammed shut on her side as though answering the question.

_It probably is_ , she thought humourlessly.

Again, sticking to the sides, the two crept up towards the noise. The long hallway had the same marble flooring as the lower level, but this time the walls were lavishly decorated. Light blue with gold gilding and trims, paintings of royal-looking people, even all the doors were a matching glossy blue with golden hinges and handles. Only one of the doors was fully closed, the rest partially or fully open. Assuming that to be the door that had slammed, Isabel started to move toward it when Levi’s hand shot out and grabbed her pigtail. She managed not to squawk indignantly as she rubbed her head. Levi pointed down the hall with two fingers, and she caught on to her mistake.      

She’d been about to merrily skip past ten open doors to go into the _one_ room potential kidnappers wanted her to check. She could practically hear Farlan already, _great move dummy, wanna fall onto their knives next?_ Levi was watching her, waiting for some kind of answer. She dragged her lower lip through her teeth and nodded, whether she was out of practice or just nervous didn’t matter - they had a job to do. Moving together they systematically checked all the rooms as they had done downstairs but, aside from some enviable furniture and paintings, they all turned out empty.

Isabel switched which hand held her knife so she could wipe away the clammy sweat that was starting to build up. For such a big place filled with potential murderers, they sure managed to keep it warm. Levi was watching her again like she was going to throw the knife down and tear off back to the horses. Pointedly ignoring his face, she took up a position to the side of the door and waited with the most nonchalant expression she could manage. He laid a hand on the doorknob, gave a small nod which she returned, then ripped the door wide open.

Stairs. They were a stark contrast to the rest of the palace, which until now had been the height of luxury, these were bland, grey stone, that spiraled ominously straight up. Levi cautiously proceeded, twisting to look how high the staircase went. Isabel stayed outside for the moment, ready to cover them if someone jumped out, but even from there she could feel a draft coming from the room.

Levi’s low voice echoed through the door, “This must lead to one of those towers we saw from outside.” Satisfied no one was immediately planning on sneaking up behind them and slitting their throats, Isabel followed him in and the two ascended the unreasonably tall spiraling staircase.         

 

By the time they reached the top her thighs were _burning_ , she hoped whoever led them up here would wait a minute before attacking because she needed time to recover dammit! The draft from earlier had worsened the higher they climbed, sweat on her forehead and neck were rapidly cooling and the chill seemed to bleed through her clothes.

About ten steps away from the top, Levi stopped and held up a hand. He was showing absolutely any signs of exertion. Isabel released the wall she’d been leaning on, straightened up, and attempted to hide her laboured breathing. His head cocked to the side, listening, aside from her death-panting it all seemed silent to her but she’d learned a long time ago Levi was half bat. He said that she just didn’t know how to whisper or walk like a human being, but she knew the truth. She held her breath to see if that would help, but there was nothing but silence.

Then, somewhere at the top echoing down to them, was a weak cough.

They both tensed at the sound, Isabel tightened her grip on her knife, it could have been wishful thinking but that had _sounded_ like Farlan. Another small cough came and Levi took a step forward without even thinking about it. It was definitely him. The two exchanged looks again, relieved for finding him alive but all too aware that getting in is always the easy part. Whoever trapped him up here was still out there somewhere, maybe at the top of these last steps, sat just waiting for them to emerge.

With her breath regained, and a fresh burst of determination thrumming through her veins, Isabel nodded for them to go forward. She had forgotten how well the two of them could silently communicate when their lives were in danger. If it wasn’t for the looming threat of being stabbed, this would have been a nice moment. Levi moved first, one silent step at a time, as she followed close behind.

The stairs lead to a dark corridor made of the same grey stone, lit torches burned along the windowless passage which succeeded in making the flickering darkness seem heavy and alive. Despite what she could see, there must have been a window somewhere further in as the faint howl of wind had reached them, bringing the cold of outside with it. Anger rushed through her, had Farlan been locked up here? The only cold place probably in this entire place and these people trap him _here_? Well, she and Levi were here now, and so damn close. It took considerable effort to not let herself call out and fly forward.

The two moved silently, braced for someone to jump out, no way it was going to be this easy. They just rounded a corner when Farlan’s slumped figure came into view at the end of the corridor. He was locked in a cell, leaning back against the door which was made up of thick metal bars like a prison, or a cage. The other three walls were the same stone as the rest of the passage, the furthest with a barred gap as a makeshift window; presumably what Farlan was staring up at.

“Farlan!” The figure whipped around at her voice, eyes widening when he saw them both.

“Hey, how did you guys find me?”

Isabel had darted forward as soon as she spoke, and was now grabbing onto the bars as she landed on her knees in front of him. “We followed your trail, did you get attacked by a _wolf_?”     

He looked pale and exhausted, his bottom lip was cut and swollen. Shakily, his hands came up to wrap around hers. They felt as cold as the metal she held and she almost pulled her hands free in shock, but he held fast. “Yeah, I did but it doesn’t matter right now. Listen, you have to get out of here _now_ \- both of you.” He looked completely serious, and she blinked back at him. Surely, she had misheard.

Levi, who was stood next to her as he inspected the lock, glared down at him. “What are you saying? We came here to get you, we’re not just -”    

“Levi _stop_!” Farlan’s voice cracked, his grip on Isabel’s hand tightened. “Listen to me for godsake, this place isn’t what you think it’s _dangerous_! You need to take Issy and run, I’ll get out somehow but you need to hurry and go!”

His face was frantic in a way she’d never seen before, what the hell was going on? “We can handle it, bro get this thing open already, just give us a second and -”

“No, Levi don’t! It’s too late, you both need to run _now_.” Farlan pleaded, staring up at Levi who looked as lost as she felt. There wasn’t a chance in hell they were leaving without him.

“Who did this?” Levi asked, gesturing to the cell with this head. Farlan gave a humourless laugh.

“You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

Farlan opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. His wide eyes had fixed on something behind them. Levi spun around instantly, knife at the ready, lowering himself into a defensive stance. Farlan released Isabel’s hands like she burned. Spinning to her feet, she cursed her own absentmindedness as she fumbled with her knife. Once they found Farlan there was no need for them both to stay here, she should have watched the door, Levi was better at picking locks he could have had the door open by now.

Too late to think about that now, standing in a darkened corner of the passageway was an impossibly tall, hooded, figure. She instinctively gripped her knife tighter as a horrified chill shot through her body. Her knees felt unsteady as the unnatural shape stood watching them, her heart throbbed in her throat. The urge to drop and cover her head, like a frightened child hiding under their blanket, was overwhelming. Her hand betrayed her and the extended knife began trembling. She wanted to look over at Levi to see how he was faring, but she wouldn’t, the first rule of a standoff: don’t blink first.

“What are you doing here?” The voice was deep, there a hiss to it that didn’t almost didn’t sound human. Isabel couldn’t speak. If she opened her mouth all that was going to come out was some heroic squeaking.

“It’s my fault they’re here!” Farlan burst, out getting to his feet “ _Please_ just- just let them go, okay? They have nothing to do with this, you got me just let them go.” The figure let out a growl that resonated in his throat and escaped his mouth with a hiss. The noise made Isabel cringe, it _wasn’t_ human, this _thing_ sounded more like a demon than a man.

The stranger stepped forward toward the trio, and Levi took an answering step to place himself in front of Isabel. “And how _did_ they find you?”

Without missing a beat Levi responded, “Good horses.” Isabel usually welcomed his dry wit, but right now she wanted to elbow him.

The man let out another growl and lowered his head, tugging his hood further over his face. Isabel blinked a few times to be sure she wasn’t seeing things, but there seemed to be a green glow emanating from under the material. “Three trespassers just happen to find my castle by _coincidence_?” His arm shot out from his cloak to slam his fist into the stone hard enough that it rattled the torches.

Isabel swallowed. He was just one man, she and Levi should be able to take him, sure he’d been able to take Farlan down but he was injured and alone. The two of them were more than enough. The man pulled his hand back and stepped forward again. “And you all just _happened_ to be carrying knives.”

“There are dangerous people out there,” Levi replied evenly, like this wasn’t the single most terrifying moment of their lives.

“Do I look stupid to you!” The man stormed even closer but Levi stood fast, weapon raised in a steady hand.

“We’re here for him. Let him out and we’ll leave you to your business.”

“He broke into my home and turned a knife on me. He stays here.” Isabel’s eyebrows shot up, she turned her head to flash a disbelieving look at Farlan. Farlan drew a breath to speak but was cut off by another cough before he began.

“I didn’t mean to break in I needed help, I meant no offense.”

Isabel hissed under her breath to him, “You meant no offense but decided to pull a knife on him? _Really?_ ” She probably couldn’t talk given that she was doing the exact same thing but still.

“I thought you were attacking me - but I swear I didn’t plan this! I didn’t even know this place was here, or that you were here, I was _lost_.” It was quiet then, only the crackle of the torches and the stranger’s enraged breathing filled the space. It was suffocating, the dark corridor seemed even smaller with this hulking figure standing mere metres away from them. Was it possible to just talk their way out of this? Farlan was by far the best at diffusing these situations but this guy seemed beyond talking, beyond r _eason_.

Steeling herself to do something that she knew would probably regret, Isabel opened her mouth. “We’re sorry for all this, sir. Is there any way we can fix this? We won’t talk I swear, we just want our friend back.” She saw Levi’s shoulders tense up as she spoke. It wasn’t as if the stranger didn’t know she was there, she was stood right in front of him!

“No. He stays here as my prisoner until I’m satisfied justice has been carried out.” With that he turned sharply, his cloak sweeping around to keep up with him, “You two will leave now and not come back.” Isabel felt her stomach drop.

“But-”

“Leave now or I keep all three of you here!”

Farlan’s hand reached through the bars to grab at her shoulder. “Go _now_ ,” he begged. “Issy please, you and Levi need to do what he says.” She stared dumbly at him, they were not leaving without him, what was he thinking even asking her to!

Levi wasn’t looking at Farlan though, instead, he had stepped forward toward the retreating figure “Is that your final decision?” The stranger stopped and spoke over his shoulder to them.

“It is.”

“Hm, seems it will be.”

What? What did that mean? Before Isabel could even think, Levi had pulled back his arm and aimed his knife straight into the man’s back. It whipped through the air, embedding itself just under his ribs with a nauseating squelch. The man jerked to stop with a pained gasp. Isabel’s hand shot up to grab Farlan’s where it still gripped onto her shoulder and held her breath. The man hunched over and staggered, managing to steady himself against the wall with great, huffing breaths.

This was their chance to unlock the cell and escape. As soon as the bastard fell, they were gone.

At least that was the plan, but something was off. He wasn’t collapsing, screaming, or begging. He was just stood there, breathing, sounding more enraged than wounded. Levi was watching him warily, obviously not expecting the reaction either, no one moved. Several horrifying seconds passed, then the man straightened up, reached back, and yanked out the knife.

What the fuck.

If the man had been terrifying before, the sight before them now was beyond words. He threw back his head and unleashed a monstrous roar, the already deafening sound echoed and the three were forced to cover their ears. When the man finally stopped, he began sprinting towards them. His - no _its_ \- hood had fallen back exposing his face. In the back of her mind, she was aware she had dropped her knife, but her mind couldn’t quite understand what she was seeing. Where there should have been lips there were _teeth_ , where there should have been eyes there were two burning green lights.

“No, _no don’t_!” Farlan yelling was an unheard noise behind them. He clung to her with both hands, pulling her towards the bars as though he could haul her through. Levi had been caught off guard, faltering a second too long to take a stance, and was now being slammed into by a monster twice his size.

“Bro!” The creature pinned Levi up against the wall, holding him a good foot off the ground, and leaned into his face to release another god-awful roar. Isabel winced but didn’t cover her ears this time, instead, she focused on the beast; he had to have a weak point somewhere. There was steam rising from the hole in its cloak where Levi’s knife had landed, but it wasn’t hindering him at all. Maybe they just had to try somewhere else.

“I offer you a chance to leave and you throw a knife at my back? You piece of shit.” The creature spat, pulling Levi forward only to slam him back against the wall. “Give me _one_ reason I shouldn’t tear your throat out right now!”

Isabel moved to dive after her dropped knife but Farlan just held tighter. “Get off me! What are you doing!”

“Issy stop, look,” he said quietly into her ear. She followed his line of sight and noticed Levi’s hand was raised to the two of them in silent request to wait. Begrudgingly, she stopped squirming but stayed tense, ready to spring free if she was needed. That monster might have survived a knife to the back, but nothing survives a blade through the head.

Levi glared into the beast’s eyes, no trace of hesitation or fear on his face. Isabel felt her cheeks burn at her earlier cowardice. “Well, as I see it that’s your choice. You can kill me now, or throw me in that cell over there and save yourself the clean-up.”

Isabel stared at Levi in confusion, _where are you going with this?_ His eyes stayed focused on the beast however. She looked at Farlan to see if there was something she’d missed, but he looked just as unsure.

The snarl even fell from the beast’s face as he pulled back a few inches. “What?”

“My freedom for theirs, I’ll stay as your prisoner and they walk away.” The beast blinked rapidly and the burning glow disappeared leaving regular, almost human, green eyes in its place. They were sunken and dark from the shadow of his eyebrows, but still unsettling wide. Right now, they were searching Levi suspiciously.

“You would… take his place?”

Levi rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t trying to scratch your back dumbass. If you really need to punish someone then might as well be the guy who just tried to kill you.”

“ _No_!” Farlan blurted out, obviously not expecting _that_ to be Levi’s genius solution. “Levi are you insane? I’m not letting you do this!”  

The two ignored him, in favour of staring one another down. “This sentence could be for life, you understand that?”  

“I do.”

The beast considered him, waiting for him to change his mind or pull out a bigger knife but Levi just stared back evenly. “Okay… deal.” He dropped Levi, who fell gracelessly to the floor.

Levi had bought them some time. If she was going to do anything she had to do it now. Tugging away from Farlan’s hands she dove for the knife. Just as her fingers brushed the wooden handle a giant hand wrapped around her wrist, and dragged her away from the cell door. She yelped in protest, stumbling to keep up but ended up half laying on the ground by the time it released her.

This thing was definitely strong, and now it had taken her knife. Her only knife. Why didn’t she bring more knives?

She looked over at Levi to see what she should do next, he was sat against the wall he’d just been held again with his elbows resting on his knees, but he wasn’t meeting her eye.

What was the plan? He must have one, he just surrendered his life to a monster, that’s not something you do without a plan! “Bro?” She whispered, but he just kept his head lowered. “Hey, what’s the plan here?” A dread was setting in that Isabel was not ready to accept. “Levi come on, you can’t - you can’t be serious!” The cell door was being unlocked behind her, and Farlan was dragged out.

Her vision was starting to blur around the edges, her limbs felt uncooperative and heavy.

“No, no, no tell me you have a plan- _please_ tell me this is a plan.” Stray tears were dripping down her cheeks as her nails scratched into the stone beneath her.

_This isn’t a plan._

She turned to the beast, “Take me instead!” He just stared at her, not speaking, not moving, just watching like he wasn’t responsible for everything that was happening. Farlan’s face came into view, his expression haunted, numb with shock. He lay a hand on her arm, guiding her to stand, which she shook them off. “ _No_!”

“Issy come on,” his voice was weak and distracted but he grabbed on again.

She let herself become deadweight, “Farlan what are you even _saying_? We can’t leave!”

Levi kept his head steadfastly down and Isabel wanted to scream.               

An approaching noise from the stairs caught her attention, someone in armour was coming. She recognised the sound from the city, not that fully armoured knights were chasing after petty thieves like them, but visiting royalty were always welcomed by the most lavished balls possible being thrown. When such important guests were present the security throughout the city became stiff, the three of them always had to lay low till they’d moved on. Those knights standing guard outside of whatever grand mansion contained their charges had always interested her, how did they move in such cumbersome things?

Any hope she might have had of the guard being on their side was quickly shot to hell as they turned the corner and the beast said, “Get these two out of here.” The knight came to an abrupt stop as took in the scene in front of them, seeming hesitant to take another step.

A growled, “Now,” from the beast kicked them back into action. They moved forward and reached for Farlan, who complied with raised hands. The way they guided Farlan to step back was apologetically gentle, but then, Farlan didn’t even seem angry at them being forcefully removed, he just kept his eyes on her.

“Sorry Miss, I’m going to need you to come with me,” The knight said, voice muffled behind the helmet’s visor, as he reached down to help her to her feet. In response, Isabel pressed her elbows into the ground and slammed her two feet into the wide armoured chest. She knew any attempt at resisting was futile, she and Farlan were going to be thrown out and Levi wasn’t coming with them, but she would be damned before she went quietly. The knight didn’t even flinch, just looked down at his chest plate where her feet were pressed, sighed, and hauled her up over his shoulder.

“I am very sorry about this.”

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The two were taken through the castle, Isabel kicking and cursing bent over an armoured shoulder, Farlan lead by the guard’s other hand around his wrist.

“You bastards! I’ll come back! I swear, I will be back and when I do you’re gonna regret ever being born!” Neither of them bothered trying to silence her, Farlan knew if he tried she would’ve been setting his bed on fire the second they were home. The three reached the top of the first staircase when she heard a door open, followed by quick, but heavy footsteps.

“Two? No, Mike, there was three of them, where’s the other one?” It was a woman’s voice; her footfalls clanked as she hurried up to them. Maybe she was another knight?

Isabel stopped cursing long enough to try to see past the knight she was currently on, _Mike_ apparently. She pushed herself up using his back and twisted around to try to see who was talking.  

“Farlan, are you okay? I swear I didn’t know that was going to happen- well I mean you did pull a knife out- but still I feel terrible, oh! I have your cloak, Mob! Bring Farlan’s cloak out here!”

The woman talked without breathing, flittering around Farlan as she checked him over. Isabel arched her back to look over the guard’s helmet when she finally saw the woman her jaw dropped. The woman was… _metal_? Not a suit of armour, her actual body was solid bronze.

On the ground level, a man exited a room holding Farlan’s cloak over his arm. A wooden man. With a clock pendulum in his chest. “Where’s the third?” The wooden man asked cautiously, “He’s not…”

The guard, _Mike_ , sighed. “Master Eren just told me to escort these two out. Hi again,” he added with a nod to Farlan, who forced a tense smile and nod in return.   

The woman, who had pulled Farlan from Mike’s grasp and taken to rubbing his biceps to help warm him up, stopped abruptly. “ _What_ , why?”

“Hey, you know as much as I do. I got there and people were on the floor, Farlan was in the cell…” Mike tapered off with a shrug of his free hand. “Honestly things just looked out of hand.” Out of hand? Things were still out of hand, a beast, a metal woman, a wooden man and a knight were all living together and kidnapping people! Or at least the beast was.

They must have remembered Isabel was there then as the woman said, “Oh Mike put that poor girl down.”

“Right, yeah.” She felt herself being gently lowered to her feet before Mike straightened up again. Well, she was grateful to not have her backside on display while everyone else was talking at least. The wooden man handed the woman the cloak, which she promptly wrapped Farlan.

“Hi, I’m Hanji this is Moblit,” she said nodding towards the wooden man. “And this strapping brute is Mike.” Mike gave a tentative wave, likely very aware that he had just manhandled Isabel away from her family.

The metal woman smiled sadly at her, “I’m sorry all this happened, I wish we had more time to talk but you two should get out of here.”

Isabel glowered, finding her voice again, “We’re not leaving, that-that,” she probably shouldn’t call him a _thing_ given who she was talking to. “ _Master Eren_ was it? Just locked our friend up and we’re not going _anywhere_ without him.”

“Levi.” Farlan added. “His name’s Levi and he just offered himself up for our freedom, Hanji, we can’t leave.” He stared pleadingly at the woman, arms wrapped around himself. He still looked sickly, his naturally fair skin was almost grey and his eyes were bloodshot. With a pang of guilt, Isabel remembered why they were out here in the first place.

Hanji rubbed her forehead with a sighed. “Oh boy, just as we were getting somewhere as well.”

“Getting somewhere?” Farlan asked.

Hanji waved the question off, “Ah it doesn’t matter. Look there really is nothing you two can do right now so you should go.” Isabel was ready to protest but Hanji cut her off. “ _We’ll_ get your friend out, promise.”

The words were reassuring, but the horrified look on Moblit’s face seriously undermined any confidence Isabel had in them. Farlan seemed just as unappeased. “See I was hoping you’d say that, but this is sounding familiar… Are you sure there’s nothing we can do?”

There had to be something, maybe the beast liked trinkets, Farlan could make trinkets. If he couldn’t be bought off then there had to be a way of killing him - like silver bullets, they were meant to work on werewolves, and Levi had a gun hidden in a false drawer in his nightstand; all they’d need to do was meltdown silver and they were good to go.

Isabel’s plot to whittle some wooden stakes as a backup plan was interrupted by Mike clearing his throat. “Uh, didn’t your friend just… _stab_ Master Eren?” Moblit slammed his face into his hands and groaned.

“Oh my god again, _again_! Twice in the same day, I just-”

Hanji shushed him without looking away from Mike, her face pained. “Stabbed him?”

“Well, more like _aimed_ I think,” Mike gestured throwing a knife. “Got him in the back but he’s fine, just pissed.”

Moblit staggered over to lean on the banister, bending at the waist to rest his face on his folded arms released a muffled. “Oh, he’s _fine_ \- yes, this fixes the attempted murder, he’s _fine_!”

“Well if he wasn’t imprisoning everybody, maybe they wouldn’t have to resort to these measures!” Hanji snapped back. Isabel decided this woman wasn’t so bad after all, she saw reason at least.

“Can’t you just tell him to let him go?” She sounded dejected to her own ears, she knew it was a long shot but she had to ask.

Hanji looked sympathetic but still shook her head, “Master Eren is… complicated, but he’s not a bad kid. Deep down.” Well, he certainly wasn’t a _good_ kid - wait, _kid_? “We’ll talk him round eventually; he probably just needs time to cool off.”

“Kid?” Isabel spluttered. “That ten-foot beast-thing is a _kid_?” Oops, she said ‘thing.’ Fortunately, Hanji didn’t seem offended at her word choice, and Moblit’s head stayed planted in his arms so he was probably fine with it.

She didn’t meet Isabel’s eye, focusing instead on a spot over her head. “It’s complicated. I guess he _is_ more of a man these days.” Something changed in the woman then, for reasons neither Isabel nor Farlan understood the atmosphere became tense, even Moblit pulled away from the banister to look at her. The energy she’d been running on seemed to drain from her, it left a new layer of tension hanging thick in the air.

It was Farlan that spoke up first. “What was done to you, it happened to him as well?” Happened to them? Isabel looked at Hanji’s body, the bronze metal looked perfectly set in place, watching it move so animatedly when the woman moved or spoke felt alien.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“What did happen to you?” Isabel asked. This felt like a pretty damn big loop to be left out of. Hanji looked surprised for a moment before slapping a hand to her forehead.

“I completely forgot to explain, well, to put a long story short, we’re cursed.” She finished with a flap of her arms at her sides, like she’d been explaining a recipe not confirming the existence of magic. Not just magic, _curses_ , the very thing some groups still hunted and burned supposed witches for.

“Cursed?” Isabel repeated

“Cursed.”

Farlan met her eye, it seemed like he’d heard this before and accepted it begrudgingly on the basis that nothing else made sense. “Oh.”

She heard Mike inhale sharply next to her before she and Farlan were being manhandled down the stairs. “He’s coming, you two need to hurry.” His tone wasn’t forceful, more concerned than anything. Hanji and Moblit sprang up as well, Moblit running ahead to get the door, Hanji wrapping a metal arm around Isabel’s shoulders.

“Okay well, this has been fun! Don’t worry about Levi, we’ll get him back to you I swear. And hey if we don’t, I’m sure he and I will get on great! Just kidding, but you guys do need to go.” The two were shoved through the open door into the biting cold, Hanji stood holding the door, the two men behind her. She hesitated before speaking, “Farlan, I’m sorry this happened, truly. I thought… I took a chance, and I shouldn’t have used you to do it.”

Farlan managed a weak smile, which she returned. “It’s okay, just get Levi out of here and we’ll call it even.”

She nodded, “Consider it done. Goodbye, it was nice meeting you both -” The door was slammed, probably by Moblit as Mike was still behind her waving. Just like that, the two were free.

They moved quickly out of the gates, Farlan hobbling slightly but he waved off her attempt to offer herself as a crutch. They’d made it halfway up the hill when he suddenly stopped, she was about to ask what was wrong when he pulled her into his chest, his arms tightly wound around her. She attempted to return the hug, standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around his waist as much as she could, given that her arms were being effectively pinned by his.

“You were right,” his face was fully pressed into her shoulder, muffling his words.

“About what?”

“I am a dumbass.”

 

  

 

   


	5. One fancy prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets Hanji, Moblit and indoor plumbing.

 

Levi didn’t look up as that tin-can took Isabel and Farlan away, just listened as Isabel’s enraged yells faded into the distance and reminded himself he’d made the right decision. He had gotten them out, _that_ was what mattered. The big guy was silent for the most part, he held the door to the cell open and just waited for Levi to take himself in. Maybe he should have been grateful to still be alive when that bastard pulled that knife out of his back and tossed it aside like an old rag, Levi had been sure he was about to die. Whatever this thing was the attack didn’t even slow it down, just pissed it off.

Trying to fight it would be pointless, at best it would have bought them a few seconds, at worst all three of them would have been killed then and there. It didn’t seem to _want_ to kill them, Farlan had been there for hours after all and it just yelled at Levi when it could have easily snapped his neck. Levi had one last option left. A bargain. He was in absolutely no position to be making deals, he half expected the thing to laugh in his face and throw all three of them in the cell to rot, but it didn’t. Maybe it was down to some moral code, or maybe it wanted to see Levi driven mad, isolated and starved.

He would find a way out of this he just needed time. No doubt Isabel and Farlan would be doing the same thing, but right now there was too much they didn’t know. Not that he was expecting to have many heart to hearts with this thing but maybe something would happen, an opportunity to get out of this cage. The thing had left straight after locking the door, not saying a word. The cell was small, a stone slab covered in hay for a bed and a, thankfully empty, metal bucket in the corner. He sat on the edge of the slab and rested his elbows on his knees for support.

The wind picked up, catching on the window space and blowing in an uncomfortable draft. Levi pulled his cloak closer to his body and wondered if his jailer ever intended to come back. He fucking hated the cold.

 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

His answer came much sooner than he was expecting in the form of someone with heavy footfalls sprinting to his cell, and slamming into the bars. He couldn’t have been here longer than an hour, not too long ago he’d climbed fully onto the slab, curled up against in the corner to try to preserve warmth… judging by the numbness of his nose, it hadn’t worked.

“You must be Levi.”

He blinked. Maybe he’d been in here longer than he realised and lost his damn mind without realising. Then again, he had been locked in here by a beast, maybe this statue woman _wasn’t_ the weirdest thing he could be imagining.

He chose to stay silent but she didn’t seem put off, on the contrary, she was beaming at him. “Hello Levi, I’m Hanji. A fellow friend of Farlan.”

Given where he’d just found Farlan, that was unlikely. “You lock all your friends in here?”

Her smile turned into a wince. “Ah yeah, that… that wasn’t meant to happen. I apologised to him for that _but_ that’s why I’m here, for you!” She pulled a key she wore around her neck over her head and unlocked the cell door.

“For me?” Levi repeated. “You’re… letting me go?”

Hanji inhaled through her teeth and tilted her head to one side. “Well, kind of? I mean I can’t let you out of the palace – _yet -_ but Master Eren _insisted_ you shouldn’t be kept in here.”

Levi narrowed his eyes at her. “Master Eren?”

“Master of the castle. Big guy. You met him earlier,” she explained while spending far too much time fiddling with the lock without actually opening it.

“As in the one who locked me in here?” He didn’t trust this. _Master Eren_ was planning on keeping Farlan in here, why would he release someone who had already thrown a knife at him today?

“Yeah that’s the one,” her tone was one of tired acceptance. “His people skills need work but he wouldn’t let someone actually _stay_ up here that’s insane, so, I’m here to take you to your room.” She finished by proudly swinging the door open and gesturing to freedom.

Levi still didn’t move.

Hanji’s shoulders dropped with a sigh, like she’d completely expected him to walk without further question. “Look, Levi, this is a very messy situation and you have no reason to trust me, but I promised Farlan and that girl that I would get you out of this place so that’s what I’m doing.” She slid a hand over her white hair, “I’m not sure how yet, Eren - _Master_ Eren is still pissed but I’ll work on it. Please just, let me get you out of here first.”

He stared skeptically for a moment before she added, “Or you can stay in here. I’m sure that bucket will be fun to use when the temperature drops at night.”

And that’s how he found himself being lead out of the tower.

When they reached the corridor, they were greeted by a guy made of wood with a clock on his face who smiled uncertainly at him. Honestly, sincerely, what the fuck? Clock-man had been about to say something, but Levi beat him to the punch with an eloquent. “What the fuck are you both?”

Hanji jolted to a stop and smacked her forehead. “I did it again, sorry Levi, I’m a candlestick.” _Naturally._ “And this here is Moblit, he’s -”

“Tired. Very tired.”

Hanji laughed, shoving the man playfully. “Oh, he’s a riot.” He did not look like he was joking. He looked very stressed… as stressed as a wooden man could be that is. “Let’s get Levi set up in a room, we can talk more there.” Hanji carried on walking, the two men following behind awkwardly glancing at each other every now and again.

She ducked through a door and lead them down a wide marble corridor, lined with thick pillars embellished with golden leaves and vines. They passed enough doors to assure Levi he was definitely going to get lost. On the bright side, at least there was a lot less chance of running into the colossal-shit.   

She led them through a door into a smaller hallway, where the décor changed starkly. The floor was no longer white marble but now parquet, three shades of warm brown tiles artfully sealed together and polished to create an even pattern underneath a larger set of crisscross lines. The mint blue walls were divided horizontally three-quarters of the way down, decorated with evenly spaced panels that framed symmetrical gilt filigree. Pairs of equally embellished tables, each displaying identical vases were planted either side of the doors they passed.         

Hanji strode on until near the end of the hall. “Ah, here we are,” she announced, stopping in front a set of ornate looking double doors. Moblit faltered slightly, he looked quizzically at her before his eyes closed in what Levi assumed to be amused acceptance.

“Of course you chose _this_ room.”

Levi stopped as well. What was wrong with this room? It wasn’t alive, was it?

He didn’t have time to ask however as Hanji was already yanking both doors open. “Welcome to your new room.”

The room was much the same as the hall, blue and gold on the walls and furniture, glossy brown for the floor, everything ridiculously extravagant. To the side, bordered by two large windows wide enough to hold cushioned window-seats, was a four-post bed supporting a raised blue tester that matched the walls and sheets. Gold filigree climbed the posts and the bottom borders of the bed, all way up to the headboard. There sat a vanity and stool draped in matching covers, two benches, a wardrobe, a privacy screen of all things, a covered round table with four chairs, and finally in the corner was a closed door.

Hanji was stood with her arms thrown up expectantly in the centre of the room. “Ah? Well? What’s the verdict?”

The verdict was this was still a prison cell. Levi ignored her question in favour of staring at the door in the corner. “Where does that lead?” If she was about to tell him it led right to _master Eren’s_ room he was going to walk back to the dungeon.

Her arms dropped slightly, “That? That’s just the washroom, what do you think of _this_ room,” her arms flying back up for emphasis. “You love it, right? Huh?” Levi had tuned her out after the word ‘washroom’. He knew some of the richest had fully functioning indoor plumbing but it wasn’t something he’d ever experienced or thought he would. No buildings in Stohess had the luxury that was for sure, while they did have running cold running water through downstairs taps, for the most part they were reliant on outhouses, wells, and the fountain in the centre of the market for bigger tasks such as laundry.      

“In a bedroom?” He asked, walking over to it.

“It’s an en-suite,” Hanji said slowly. “Have you never seen one before?” Levi was already letting himself into the room. The walls were tiled white with gold borders along the top and bottom, the floor was a glossy blue. The sink, toilet, and long clawfoot bathtub were a matching white with golden floral patterns painted modestly along their edges. He approached the toilet and peered down to see the bowl was filled with water at the bottom, he’d heard about these, they were a pretty drastic change to the outhouses he was used to.

“You know, that’s a lot of effort for something you shit in.”

Hanji and Moblit followed him in, the room was plenty big enough for the three of them to stand in. “Of course, it’s a royal shitter,” she announced proudly. “Here, look.” She pulled a wood handle attached to a chain that descended from the ceiling and the water swirled away with a rumbling flush. It was magnificent. “Oh, that’s not even the best part,” she moved over to the sink and turned on the water. She held her hand under it for a moment before tutting at herself, “What am I doing? I don’t even have nerve endings, here feel it.” She tugged Levi’s wrist forward till his fingers were in the stream, the water was burning hot. 

“That’s boiling,” he hissed, yanking his hand out. The cold from the cell hadn’t dispersed yet, it was down to his bones and the newly burned skin felt raw. He cradled the injured fingers in his other, still freezing, hand.

Steam was starting to rise from the sink which Hanji quickly shut it off, “Oops, sorry.” She waved her fingers up at him with a sheepish smile. “Honest mistake.”

“Speaking of,” Moblit said, from where he had been loitering by the door. “As interesting as hot water is, there’s _other_ business we should probably discuss.” He nodded towards the bedroom and walked out. After whispering that the bathtub also had hot and cold running water, Hanji herded Levi out as well. Moblit was at the table, untucking chairs for them all.

Hanji skipped over to a seat which he pushed in for her as she sat. “Thank you, dear Moblit,” she teased. Moblit held a chair out for him but Levi waved him off, grabbing onto the back and tucking himself in.

Instead of sitting right away Moblit stood behind Hanji, arms tucked behind himself as through awaiting further instruction. “What are you her butler or something?” It would fit the tidy outfit the man wore, thought wooden, it did appear to be some kind of hospitality uniform.

Hanji laughed, “Sadly not, he’s actually one of Master Eren’s servants but he’s such a gentleman he can’t even break the habit around friends.”

“Oh, I can when I need to,” Moblit said, staring pointedly at the back of her head. “Believe me.” Hanji was screwing her face in amused disagreement at Levi where he couldn’t see, but from the exasperated expression on his face, he knew exactly what she was doing.

“Back to why we’re here,” he prompted, nudging her white head.

She startled back to attention. “Oh right, right. Well, Levi, as I said earlier we’re not exactly _human_ these days, but we used to be.”

Levi raised his eyebrows, “Oh?” Well, they did look human; a person being turned into a candlestick was about as plausible as sentient human-sized candlesticks naturally existing. Both were impossible but hell, seeing was believing.

 

Hanji nudged the centre of her glasses as if to push them up her nose, a pointless action as they were fused in place to her skin. “It was ten years ago, when King Grisha and Queen Carla were still with us. Eren was just a boy then, he was a good kid, a little unmotivated and obsessed with anything to do with war but his heart was in the right place.” She smiled at the memory, resting her elbow on the tablecloth with a thumb under her chin. “There were rising tensions between our kingdom and another ruled by Prince Zeke, King Grisha’s other son from a previous marriage. The Prince was, well… a little shit if we’re being honest. He came of age a few years before Eren was born and was married off to neighbouring kingdom’s Princess, officially it was to seal a trade deal but really, they just couldn’t handle his attitude anymore.”

Levi had only arrived with Isabel and Farlan two years ago, he didn’t even know there _was_ royalty this far out let alone its political history. “For a while, everything seemed peaceful, the trade deal went well, staff around the castle could relax without Zeke being around, and her Majesty had the kingdom’s new heir, Eren. That’s when Zeke re-appeared.” She clasped her hands in front of her on the table and frowned. “At first it was nothing to worry about, he was just a Prince after all and with the profit both sides were making there was no way the King was going to jeopardise their deal. As the years went on, however, it became apparent the Prince was dabbling in something much darker than just politics.”

Levi leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. “Competitive gardening?” She blinked rapidly at him, seeming to snap out of the melancholy trance she’d been in, before letting out a surprised laugh.

“Levi come on this is serious!”

“I was being serious,” he deadpanned, making her slap the table with a muted thunk as she snorted.

“ _Magic_.” She announced chastising. “Dark magic to be exact. At some point, he crossed back into the kingdom undetected and hexed some innocent citizens, leaving their petrified bodies out in front of the palace gates.” All humour was gone from her again, but Levi thought better of trying to make another joke, she took a deep breath before continuing. “That’s when King Grisha started disappearing, he would be gone days at a time but no one ever asked why. A few more years pass and more bodies are left outside, this time they’ve been turned into other materials, stone, brass, silver - that’s where I came in.” She jabbed her thumbs up to her face before folding them on the table again.

“As a scientist, I was fascinated by magic but obviously, it’s not the easiest thing to study.” Levi had thought magic was just fairy tales and superstition until today, part of him still wanted to roll his eyes at her blaming anything on magic, but clearly, that was wrong. There were groups, more like cults really, that still hunted witches and warlocks, they would preach in the city streets about it being ‘their mission’.

“I’d been living in the Palace for about a year and a half trying to find a way of saving these people, or at the very least understanding how they became that way when Prince Zeke showed up at the door saying he wanted to talk with his father.”

Levi could see where this was going. “And he did this to you?”

Hanji gave a humourless laugh, “No -”

“King Grisha did.”

It was Moblit who has spoken up before falling stone-silent again, his voice dripping bitterness like he hadn’t intended to speak but couldn’t keep himself from staying quiet.

Levi’s eyebrows furrowed, okay maybe he didn’t know where this was going. “What, why?”

“Ironically, to save us. Turns out all those trips he’d been taking were to learn the craft himself so _he_ could deal with Prince Zeke. He just -” she paused, shaking her head. “He knew Zeke was going to make a move at some point. He wasn’t sure when, or what exactly that move was going to be but he prepared for what he could. When he showed up that day, King Grisha refused to let him into the palace but agreed to meet him at the gate… obviously, no one anticipated him blowing down the doors and coming in anyway.”

She and Moblit lowered their heads, almost in synch. “He killed Queen Carla right in front of him and Eren, _brutally_. I mean he ripped her into two pieces it was -” she shuddered, trying to shake the image from her head. “Eren was only ten at the time.” Levi winced. “He was going to curse the rest of the palace like the citizens he’d dumped outside, but King Grisha stepped in with a sort-of loophole curse. He made us immortal, well anyone loyal to the household immortal, but we had to deal with Zeke’s curse as well,” she gestured a hand down her metal torso.  

“Why didn’t he just kill him?”

“Oh, he did eventually. They ended up killing each other.” She was frowning thoughtfully down at her hands, watching the brass fingers open and close. “He just hesitated which I understand, I mean I’m not happy about it but he just watched his wife get murdered. I imagine he had mixed feelings about killing his son from his other dead wife.”               

Levi stared at the gold stitching on the tablecloth, absorbing everything he’d been told. If magic was real, which was looking likely at this point, everything they were saying still sounded insane, but it was a reasonable explanation. It certainly explained what crawled up the beasty bastard’s ass. Watching your half-brother murder your mother _and_ father before turning you into a big-ass monster would make anyone an asshole, and damn if that kid didn’t get a shitty deal on the transformation front. Actually, that was a good point.

“What’s Eren meant to be anyway? He looks more like a nightmare than you two.”

“Ah yeah, well, he’s a long story. I studied him after everything calmed down and I can’t be sure but it seems that one of the spells were designed _for_ Eren. Maybe Zeke wanted to keep him alive as punishment, maybe King Grisha was trying to give Eren the power to survive, I don’t know but it’s fascinating.” She leaned forward, resting her crossed fingers in front of her mouth as she tried not to show her smile. Levi regretted asking.   

“Please don’t get her started,” Moblit said in an exasperated tone that _really_ made Levi regret asking.

The spark of excitement hadn’t left her face. “No, no the differences don’t just end with appearances. We all stopped aging when we got turned but Eren didn’t, what he got instead - as you’ve already seen - was incredible regenerative abilities. Cuts, bruises, broken bones, they all heal in minutes, he lost a tooth once and it had grown back within the hour!” That would explain a lot. The memory of Eren pulling out Levi’s knife before slamming him into the wall flashed through his mind. “When we get hurt or break something the damage stays. There’s a kid here, Marco, he’s a teacup -” she said it so casually, of course, this _was_ their life after all. “He fell down some stairs early on and it completely shattered his arm. I mean, he is made of fine china so it’s lucky he didn’t completely break but still.”

He was made of fine china? It made sense, Hanji was made of brass and wax, Moblit out of wood, glass, and pure stress, but those were hardy materials. If Hanji fell downstairs, the stairs would the ones be to come off worse. Even if she did break something the King’s curse made them immortal, didn’t it? Were there completely shattered employees just laying around the palace? “Has anyone completely broke before?”

“Thankfully no, oh god could you image,” Hanji shuddered. “There aren’t many fragile employees luckily, and they’ve managed this long.”

Levi glanced down at his own hands where they were folded in his arms. They were rough, calloused from farm work, nails trimmed short, skin pale and reddened from the cold, but at least they were flesh and bone. “So, ten years?” She hummed an affirmative with a nod. “There anyway of turning you guys back? Can’t curses be broken or canceled or something?”

Hanji’s face lit up, “funny thing you -“

“No,” Moblit spoke up at the same time. She spun in her chair to look at him, he stared down at her and continued. “Nothing definite, it’s all theoretical and based on myth and rumour.”

“But it wouldn’t hurt to test all our options before rolling over and giving up,” Hanji shot back.

Levi was suddenly concerned about this potential solution was, he had a sinking feeling he had something to do with it.

Moblit turned away from Hanji to talk directly to Levi. “It’s impossible,” he explained, “so there’s no point -”

“It’s _not_ impossible.” Hanji’s chair screeched as she pushed it from the table to stand. “Magic is full of loopholes, we can work with this.”

Moblit closed his eyes, raising a hand to rub his forehead. “After everything that just happened, how are you still not thinking about the consequences. What needs to happen?”

Hanji snorted. “Oh, come on now you’re just being dramatic, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Kidnapping apparently!”

Their bickering was so familiar, even in these cursed bodies, Levi felt as though he was back in his living room watching Isabel and Farlan squabble over who was taking up too much room on their couch. He would get back to them somehow. If these two couldn’t convince the beast guy to let him go, and assuming Moblit would prevent Hanji from borrowing his skin for curse-breaking purposes, then he’d just escape on his own. Should be easy enough, he and Isabel didn’t technically run into anyone until they were well into the palace, even if someone had been watching them. Oh, he’d forgotten about that.

“Oi, was it you two screwing with us earlier?”

The two stopped arguing and looked at him, as though they just remembered he was still there. “Earlier?” Moblit echoed.

“When Isabel and I came in.”

Looks of realisation crossed their faces. “Oh, no that wasn’t us, well it kind of was but we didn’t actually do it, that was Erwin.” Hanji explained, sitting back in her seat now her impassioned rant was over. “Don’t worry, you’ll definitely meet him at some point. He was the King’s right-hand commander, these days he’s… well, a shield technically, but he’s still the military man.”

Military, of course. Levi didn’t even try to keep the contempt off his face. “He led us straight to that bastard.”

She rubbed her fingertips over her forehead for a moment, sighing. “He was trying to take you to Farlan, he didn’t know this was going to happen.” Her face serious as she held his gaze, “Levi you and your friends are the only people to find us since the attack.” Ah, lucky them. She answered his next question before he could even ask it. “We tried to get help back then but the magic that keeps us alive like this is bound to the castle, once we leave the property we turn inanimate.”      

Levi’s eyes dropped to inspect their bodies again, they must have tried to get help all those years ago. They probably sent the most human-looking people out on horseback who swore to return with witches, doctors, armies, anyone who could help. He could imagine a castle full of transformed staff and one monster gathering at the doors and windows, wishing their riders luck, terrified but hopeful. Then, that moment they watched with blood-freezing horror as their friends went rigid on their horses, before crashing to the ground.

“Can you… fix that?”

She shook her head solemnly. “We lost two good people that way, we won’t risk anyone else by trying again, not until something changes.”

There was a moment of heavy silence where Levi tried to figure out if he should offer his condolences to them, he was saved when her face brightened again and clapped her hands. “Oh, but look me doing all the talking, tell us about _you_ ,” she put her face in her hands and leaned across the table. “Where are you from? What do you do for a living? Do you live with Farlan and that girl? Are you in a relationship with anyone?” Moblit looked between the two of them apologetically, hands out ready to step forward and pull her back.

It was going to be a long day.


	6. Eren's interesting day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see the day from Eren's perspective and exactly why he's such a fan of locking people up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a wicked case of writer's block, I have forced this chapter out. Next chapter we might actually get to see Eren and Levi really interact... only took us 20,000 words!

**Several hours ago**

 

“Eren!”

Hanji’s shrieks echoed down the hallway after him but he didn’t stop until he was back in the parlour, the door slammed in an unspoken warning to stay out. She would follow him in anyway, probably with Moblit and Petra tailing her, Petra to quietly back her up, Moblit to try pull her away. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes with a low growl, he didn’t need their interfering, what he needed was to think. He’d known something was off the second he walked into the kitchen. Marco had been putting things away distractedly, he didn’t even notice Eren enter the room until he asked him what was wrong. He leapt backward so fast he stumbled over his own feet, fortunately, Eren steadied him before he hit the floor. He denied anything was wrong, maintaining an unconvincingly innocent smile for all of three seconds before revealing a stranger had wandered in and was currently being served tea by Hanji and Petra.

Eren had taken off, knocking a tray with an arrangement of different teacups onto the floor, were these all out for the stranger? The light from a fire was spilling out from his parlour, it wasn’t too unusual to see it burning some nights when he was in there but it was morning now and he’d only just left his bedroom. Before he could set foot in the door Hanji was there blocking the way, distantly, he was aware of her attempting to placate him but it muted out as soon as he spotted the blonde man. A real, flesh and bone human man. His skin pale, and mottled with red. The thick winter clothes he wore were darkened with damp, and his eyes wide with terror.

And Eren panicked.   

 

Unsurprisingly, the three did follow him in. He dropped into his chair and stared resolutely into the roaring fire, determined to pretend they weren’t there for as long as possible. “Eren Jager, what was that!” The stranger’s cloak was still laid out on the rug, fat drops of water clumping the fur trim together on the hood, some should really hang that up to dry properly. Her hands gripped onto her head as she carried on. “Someone finally finds us, and your first instinct is to almost kill him?” Eren’s view became blocked as Hanji moved in front of him, hands on her hips. Even sat down his eye line was only just level with her throat, “Well?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?” He snapped back. This was still his castle, he had a right to know when someone - a stranger at that - had wandered on in. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? How did he even get in!”

She let out a disbelieving laugh. “Strangely enough we weren’t sure how you’d react and didn’t want to risk you doing something to scare him off!”

“Oh yeah, wouldn’t want to drive away the man with a concealed weapon.”

“That weapon would have stayed concealed if you hadn’t stormed in looking ready to eat him!”

Maybe, but it still wasn’t worth the risk. He had handled that blade confidently, god knows where else he’s used it. Hanji was still glowering at him, her arms now folded. “Let him out, Eren.”

“ _Prince_ Eren,” he shot back. “Prince as in the master of this castle.”

He heard Petra make a disgusted sound in her throat. Apparently finding her voice she moved forward and stood next to Hanji, mirroring her disapproving stance. “Excuse me _your Highness_ , but may I remind you that as royalty you have a duty to your people. That includes not slamming them into the wall then locking them in the tower!”  

Eren let out a huff, steam blew out from his mouth but the two furious looking women didn’t budge.

“So, what’s the plan here, _Prince_ Eren? Keep him up there for the rest of his life?”

He was saved from saying something he would probably regret by Armin tapping and at the open door. “Armin! Maybe you can talk some sense into him, he just threw -” Armin raised his hand, cutting her off.

“I heard. Can you give us a minute?” Hanji and Petra didn’t look ready to leave. They were just getting warmed up, but Moblit stepped forward and placed a hand on their shoulders. Hanji stared at Armin with narrowed eyes for a moment, before allowing Moblit to guide them out.

The door closed softly behind them leaving the room quiet except for the crackle of the fire. Eren didn’t move, neither did Armin, but he could feel his gaze burning into his head.

“So, big day.” His voice was casual but it felt loaded, of course it was. Today wasn’t just _big_ , today was unprecedented, they had waited on blind faith for a day like today for years. “We wondered if anyone new entered the castle grounds whether they’d be affected by the curses, looks like we can rule that out now.”

Eren turned his head to the fire, away from Armin, and tightened his grip on the arms of the chair. The soft clink of porcelain feet against the marble floor drew closer to the chair. “As there’s been no noticeable effect on him coming into the castle we can assume that he’s safe to leave as well.” The footsteps stopped just short of the rug and Eren huffed.

“Maybe.”

Armin hummed, moving again, even closer to the chair. “I wasn’t here when it happened but Marco filled me in.” Eren’s shoulders tensed instinctively if he really wanted to, he could definitely outrun Armin, pride be damned he would sprint away from this child and his angling. There was another clink, Armin must have brought his hands together but Eren wasn’t going to turn his head to check. “His name’s Farlan, Hanji, and Moblit were in the tea room when they saw him roll down the hill trying to outrun a wolf. Once Hanji stopped laughing, she realised that he was probably going to come to us for help so she lit the fire.”

Eren’s gaze slid back over the offending fire, Armin rested a hand on the solid back of the chair and stared into it as well. “You know, all things considered, I think he reacted quite well, he got along with Hanji and Petra just fine. Most people would have run out screaming.”

“What’s your point, Armin?” Eren snapped.

“I just want to know what the plan is.”

Plan? Eren had already knocked the stranger unconscious within 30 seconds of knowing he was even in the castle, how in god’s name would he have a _plan_.

“What’s wrong with keeping him in the tower?”

Armin sighed, another clink where he was probably rubbing his forehead. “We both know you’re not going to keep him in the tower. His being here is a _good_ thing, at the very least it means people can still find us.”

Eren stiffened. More people, not injured and half frozen but legitimate threats, mobs, thieves, soldiers, witches. If Eren let this stranger out, he could run home and tell everyone about the nightmare living in the priceless, vulnerable, palace.

“He got lost, no one else is going to find this place.” They wouldn’t. All these years no one’s bothered them, what are the odds of two strangers stumbling onto them.

“Farlan could tell people -”

“ _No_.”

Armin moved around the chair and stood in front of Eren, staring hard down at him. This was the closet they got to eye-level without Armin standing on a chair. “The other option is we keep him here as our prisoner, is that what you want?” As Eren turned his head, two tiny arms shot to the back of his chair, caging him in. “Hanji and Petra would be overjoyed at keeping him around for a while, you, on the other hand, would be broodier than usual. So, what do you want to do?”

 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They found Mike, who had heard about the situation, and sent him up to let Farlan know they were working on getting him out. Hanji and Petra were still riled up, Moblit wisely chose to stay quiet and let them rant it out. It wasn’t that they didn’t know Armin was probably the best person to talk Eren round, it was just the frustration of it all. After all this time, they were finally being given an opportunity to try change things only to have this happen it seemed almost poetic, but still very annoying.

They were waiting for Mike in the kitchen, Marco also there with apologies pouring from his mouth as they assured him he wasn’t at fault here when Erwin peered around the door. Before he could fully enter the room, Hanji was on him. “Erwin! You know what’s going on?”

“I do. Armin talking to him?”

Hanji huffed, jumping up to sit on the kitchen counter with a heavy thunk. “He is, and I think he’ll calm him down but you have to be thinking what I’m thinking.”

“I am.” Erwin came fully into the room and folded his arms. “It would have been a lot easier to work with this Farlan if Eren had kept calm but I think we can still work around it”

“We sent Mike up to talk to him, we’ll know more when he comes back,” Petra added. She was sat at a wooden table the kitchen staff used to talk and eat while work, they still used it, but out of habit. The kitchen had long since lost its use, only being cleaned as something to do. “He seems like a decent person though, he definitely handled seeing us like this better than we did.”

Hanji snorted with a rough shove to Moblit’s shoulder. There had been a lot of screaming and confusion that day. After the blinding white flash of spells that had flooded the entire castle died down, Moblit had come charging through the halls to check on Hanji. He hadn’t even fully realised he was made of wood yet. He scoffed and bashfully folded his arms, avoiding her beaming face.

“That’s what I’m counting on, even if he doesn’t forgive Eren he’ll be more sympathetic to you three now that he knows you.”

“And if he’s not? And the second we let him out he takes off his horse and never comes back?”

Erwin turned to him and gave a small, but sure smile. “We’ll deal with that if it comes to it.”

“Oh, I’m not going to enjoy this,” Moblit groaned. He took a seat next to Petra, face falling into his hands as she patted his head supportively. “This is going to go wrong I know it.”

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
**Now**

“You led them up there.” It wasn’t a question, Eren already knew the truth, rather it was an accusation that demanded an explanation.

Erwin, however, just lifted his head from his book, nonplussed. “I did.”

They were in a quiet alcove that sat on the dead-end of a corridor. It was nothing special, made up of a large padded window-seat that overlooked the gardens with long curtains that hid the spot from passers-by. Eren used to hide here as a child, back then he thought it was foolproof and was always surprised when someone dragged him out.  

“Why?”

“I thought it would be a good incentive for you to let Farlan out,” he answered smoothly. “I didn’t expect you to imprison a _different_ person.”

Eren narrowed his eyes. “You don’t sound too grieved that I did.”

Erwin set the book face down next to his silver leg and steepled his fingers. “I’m not happy we’re keeping people here against their will, your highness.” Eren huffed at the title. These days it was the equivalent of when his mother used his full name, hands on hips, shattered vase at his feet. “I do wonder why you did it though.”

“Exactly what we were about to ask.” Mikasa and Armin were making their way down the corridor toward them.

_Oh, here we go_.

So far today, Eren had managed to avoid her and was honestly surprised she hadn’t gone to check up on Farlan herself. Either to free him or kick him through a wall. “You’re making yourself a target by keeping anyone here, there’s no way those other two won’t be back for their friend.”

“You don’t think I know that!” Eren snapped.

“Then _why_ did you think -”

He threw his arm back, pushing back his cloak and twisting to try to show the knife mark in his shirt. “He tried to kill me!” He found the hole and stretched the material out for emphasis. “This is treason, by law, he should be executed.”   

She stared down at the hole, with a knot between her eyebrows. “So, you want him dead, that’s it?”

“No!” Eren quickly re-adjusted his cloak, straightening himself up to look as uninjured as he felt. He had lost his temper at the time, but that was a perfectly normal reaction. “No,” he repeated, calmer this time. “I just…” he made vague hand gestures. “He needed to be punished.”

Armin stared at him flatly. “You panicked, didn’t you?”

Mikasa sighed. “You do get very defensive about your space.”

“It’s _my_ palace! They were -”

Erwin stood up, placed a placating hand on his shoulder and cut him off with, “Well he’s here now.” He waited a moment before continuing. “And I think we all agree we should make the best of it. Hanji’s got people sorting out a room for him to stay in -”

_Wait, what?_ “A _room_? _Best_ of it? I thought you said you weren’t happy about him being here.”

“Against his will,” Erwin corrected.

Eren’s hands shot up indignantly. “I thought you were going to tell me to let him go!”

“Eventually yes, we do need to let him leave but until then we should explore the possibility of him being able to break the curse.”

“Oh, for the love of.” He’d heard this before, suffered through years of Hanji’s theories and failed experiments to turn everyone human again. When he first walked through the castle in his new form, most people had gawked, coward, or hesitated. All too unsettled by his beastly appearance to comfort him, even knowing he was just a child. Mikasa and Hanji were the only ones who didn’t. Mikasa grabbed onto him and cried in relief that he was alive, Hanji had stared at him like a ravenous wolf. After only a few days she declared that Eren was important to the curse, a pressure point. She then spent the next decade deciding how he could break it.

“What if the curse _can’t_ be broken? What then, we just experiment on this stranger till he dies?”

“We’re not going to kill anyone,” Erwin sighed like Eren was being unreasonable by pointing out the very obvious flaws with his plan. “If we can get Levi to work with us then we have some avenues to explore.”

Eren snorted, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you and _Levi_ were so close. And what avenues? What could he possibly do that we haven’t tried?”

Erwin exchanged a look with Armin, who shrugged helplessly back. “True love.”

“I’ve looked at the texts myself, Eren. They all mention it,” Armin quickly cut in before Eren could react.

He wanted to react, to laugh, curse, to kick the prisoner out into the snow before anyone could say anything to him, but he couldn’t get the words out. His jaw had dropped uselessly, as had his stomach, and he could feel the pointed tips of his ears burning red. Armin, who had moments ago looked cautious, was now looking confusedly at Eren’s offended spluttering.

“Are – are you, what is – have you lost your _minds_?” He turned to look desperately at Mikasa, but her eyes dropped that same moment. “Oh no, not you too. _True love?_ Armin that only works in fairy tales.” He tried to keep his tone even, but this was too much.

“I thought so too, but your father’s books are all very clear on this.”

Eren huffed and turned on his heel to leave. “Well let’s hope that isn’t the solution because I’m falling in love with some thug about as much as he’s falling in love with a monster.”

When a hand caught his arm, he was ready to shrug it off, carefully in case it was Armin and not Erwin, but it was neither of them. Mikasa fixed him with a small frown, “True love comes in many different forms, it doesn’t have to be romantic.” She released his arm. “I like this solution about as much as you do, but the entire palace is counting on us doing whatever needs to be done to regain everyone’s freedom. We may never get another chance like this.”

The urge to scoff and walk away was bleeding out of him by the second and they knew it. Freedom. Something he had valued as a child and worshipped as an adult now that it was literally unattainable. The desire to just walk out of the palace gates, to go into town and see what had changed, to live unhindered by magic or the looming responsibilities as a royal, that is what kept Eren’s hope alive all these years. He’d thought the situation completely hopeless for so long, every chance swiftly dashed leaving nothing but disappointment in its wake, and deep down he knew he was only setting himself up for that same fall. But if he gave up, that was as good as letting Zeke win.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “What do you need me to do?”

Erwin smiled. “How do you feel about dinner?”

     

 

  

 

 


	7. Dinner Request

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi plans his escape and gets asked to dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a tiny chapter I am sorry it took so long to get out. I'm seeing the love for this story and am appreciating it massively, you're all so lovely and I hope this will be worth your time and patience.

Moblit finally managed to drag Hanji out of Levi’s room after about an hour of her asking every question she could possibly think of. He answered them as briefly and honestly as possible, pointedly skipping the few that were far too personal. When he finally found himself alone he flopped back onto the bed, tired in a way that had nothing to do with his body. Drained was more like it. The dread he’d felt when that cell door first slammed behind him had dissipated, taking all the nervous energy that had kept him alert with it. Beneath him, the bed was spacious and comfortably firm, which was not helping his current lethargy. He had long since warmed up enough to remove his cloak, which now hung over the back of a chair with his gloves stuffed in the pockets. He wasn’t as alone in this palace as he had first thought, which was good if it meant he wasn’t going to freeze or starve. That should buy him some time to escape.

Sitting up, he took in what he had to work with. Weapons had already proven to be useless – not that there was any lay around – so he was going to get out quietly. If he stayed here a few days he could learn his way around, maybe find an unwatched exit and leave in the middle of the night. A reasonable plan, but it was winter and he was hours away from home by horse. Probably better if he left early morning then. His eyes turned to one of the windows which were taller than him. Dragging himself from the bed, he took a knee on the seat underneath the window and undid the single latch, the two panes opened inward leaving a wide-open space.

He felt a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. _That’ll work_.

There was a considerable drop from the window to the ground, thirty feet give or take, too much for the fallen snow to cushion. If he could fashion a rope long enough to reach halfway, he’d be gone come dawn. Getting away from this place was a surprisingly revitalising thought, an alertness ran through his body that pushed his weariness down. It wouldn’t do to be impatient right now though. If he doesn’t have enough material in the room or, god forbid, he gets caught trying to escape and winds up back in that cell, his chances of getting out will shoot down to none.

He threw a glance over at the door, listening, half expecting someone to come barging in now the plan was made. It would have hardly been surprising, what with this being an enchanted castle where people were made of furniture. Moblit’s reaction to Hanji choosing this room rang in the back of his mind, maybe the room was alive after all.

_Creepy fucking place._

Making his way around the room, Levi began opening all the cupboards and drawers in search of sturdy enough material. The cover on his bed was thick and heavy, tucked neatly into place even as he yanked a corner loose to give it an assessing tug. Knotting it would be a pain, but it would do. The sheets themselves, however, were flimsy and too smooth, even if the knots held the material itself would rip like paper. The irony that he should be complaining about having silk sheets wasn’t lost on him. Across the room was an ornate wardrobe whose doors creaked morbidly when he opened them. It was empty. Well, bar a coating of dust on the upper shelves that he only found after standing on his toes and feeling around. Ripping his hand away in disgust ended up pulling more down, which then fell onto his cringing face before he could jump back.

Tucked away behind the privacy screen was a matching ottoman that came up to Levi’s knee. Inside it was lengths of glossy red material, decorated with leaf impressions in a darker shade and a gold fringe. He pulled out the entire thing and turned the material over curiously in his hands. From their size, Levi assumed they were curtains, they would have more than covered the windows in this room, but the colours were wrong. If the matching hallway was anything to go by, these must be from a completely part of the castle. Wherever they came from they were thick and durable enough to support his weight so he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He spread his gathered materials out on the floor as best he could, there wasn’t enough to get him safely to the ground but it was a start. There were plenty of other rooms for him to scavenge from if he could look around without running into anyone. Did the people here sleep? The rooms he and Isabel had checked while looking for Farlan didn’t look occupied. He glanced down hand, which still felt dusty despite frantically scrubbing it off against the red material. Nothing in this place seemed used recently.

He’d set to work tying the materials together and found the bed to be a suitable anchor when three heavy-handed knocks landed on his door. He was on his feet in an instant, reaching back for his knife before remembering it wasn’t there. There was muttering behind the door before three much softer knocks came that seemed to beat perfectly in time with his heart, which was currently residing in his ears.

“You trying to scare the shit out of me?” he snapped. “Give me a second.”

“Uh, sorry?” It was the big bastard. No mistaking that voice even muffled and blessedly calmer than when they’d met, it was too deep and animalistic to pass as entirely human. Levi bundled his makeshift rope up and dumped it into the ottoman before approaching the closed doors.

“What do you want?” He asked when stood a safe distance away.

“You’re joining me for dinner.”

Levi’s eyebrows shot up but before he could say anything, there was more frantic muttering. “Sorry. I meant, _would_ you please join me for dinner? It would…” There was a pause, then the muttering picked up again, this time Eren was trying to quietly argue back.

Levi stepped closer to the door and leaned in. “I’m not saying that,” Eren hissed. “I _was_ polite!” Evidently, the kid’s voice was perpetually booming as well. While Levi couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, he did recognise Hanji’s voice which was becoming steadily higher as the conversation went on. In any other situation, this might have been amusing.

“It would?” Levi prompted. The back and forth didn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.

“It would give me great pleasure!”

Levi snorted humourlessly, folding his arms. “Sounds like it.”

“Are you coming out for dinner or not?”

“Doesn’t seem likely, does it?”

The answering growl had the hairs on the back of Levi’s neck standing on end. He backed up a few steps, glancing fruitlessly around for anything he could defend himself with. The memory of burning green eyes and a deafening roar flashed through Levi’s mind, along with the thought that he really needed to pick his fights better. Someone on the other side of the door spoke, a woman’s voice that he didn’t recognise, and the growling slowly died out.

“You’re going to be here a while. We should get to know each other at least.” His voice was careful, low, and utterly condescending. The forced politeness was somehow more insulting than if he had outright told Levi to go to hell. Despite every logical part of his brain telling him to placate the situation, Levi couldn’t ignore his irritation at being talked down to by someone barely older than a child.

“I’m here for life, right?”

It was several seconds before Eren replied. “Uh, well... I said that you _might_ be?” He sounded sheepish now, _good_. Hopefully Hanji was staring a hole into the kid’s head.

“In that case, we have plenty of time to get to ‘ _get to know each other_ ’, no need to rush.”

Taunting any kind beast was inadvisable at the best of times, but he was almost certain that Hanji - and probably Moblit - would stop this one from breaking down the door and tearing his head off.

“Hey, I said _might_ , if you come down to dinner we can talk about-”

“I’m not hungry.”

Something bumped into one of the doors, “Then I can wait till you _are_ hungry.” He sounded closer, like he was speaking against the wood.

“I don’t plan on being hungry tonight.”

Eren snarled, it was guttural and cringe-inducing. “What, didn’t work up an appetite putting a knife in my back?”

Levi rolled his eyes, “Oh yes, I can see all the damage _that_ did.”

“Okay, you know what smartass,” Eren’s voice pulled back from the door. “You either eat with me, or you don’t eat at all! How’s that?”

Levi looked back the ottoman. “Sounds fine.”

Eren paused again, Levi almost pitied him. In a morbid way, it was probably for the best he had never taken the throne; his enemies would have tap-danced over him. “So, you’re coming down to dinner?” He asked, slowly.

“No.”

“What? Well, when are you coming down?”

“I’m not.”

There was a chance someone would be posted to watch his door, he might have to make do with what he had in his room to get out. He walked back over to the bed and sat on it, if he tied the sheets to the bottom of the rope they might hold together long enough.

“But you’ll starve.”

“I’d starve if I ate with you anyway, god knows I wouldn’t keep anything down looking at that face.”

He was pushing it and he knew it. The growling was back, as well as a hit hard enough to rattle the walls. “You son of a bitch, I hope you _do_ starve. Enjoy rotting in there.”

A few voices tried calling him but Eren must have gone as the next thing Levi heard was Hanji. “He’s kidding, Levi. We won’t let you starve! Just -” She didn’t finish that thought. Multiple footsteps, all too metallic or too delicate to sound like human footfalls, moved away from the door; leaving Levi in peace.  


	8. Meet the Family

Levi had waited a good few minutes before moving again after Eren’s visit. He half expected the door to come flying off its hinges and the knight from earlier to come strolling in, _hopefully_ , just to drag him back up to cell. Then again, maybe the beast was planning on making good on his threat and would starve Levi out. When nothing happened, he got back to fashioning his makeshift rope. It came up very short. To make things worse, when he anchored it to one of the bed’s legs, half the length was lost just reaching the window, meaning he was going to have to leave the room.

_Wonderful_.

When he pressed his ear the door it seemed quiet, and when he slowly cracked it open, half expecting Eren himself to be stood there, he was surprised to see no one had in fact been posted outside to watch him. He stepped out quietly, closed the door behind him and checked both ways. Nothing. So, he carried on – quietly - he hurried to the next door along, grateful that the floor was so solid and not creaking with every step. Then again, this place was so huge, it’s doubtful anyone would have heard him even then.

There were three bedrooms in the hallway, all decorated in that same gold and blue; the furniture looking more like fine art than household items. Levi amassed several armfuls of sheets, linens, and curtains. Still not enough to get him to the ground, but maybe enough to get him safely onto a lower roof.

He was back on his bed, halfway through knotting two bedsheets together when two brief knocks came from the door.

Heart jumping in his chest, he only just had time to shove his new rope over the side of the bed and scramble off himself, before it opened. “You know you’re supposed to wait for someone to invite you in after knocking, right?” The materials were spilled out across the floor, but there was no time to hide them. Folding his arms and leaning against of the posts on the bed, Levi tried to cover them.

“You would have invited me in?”

Levi had been hoping it was Hanji or Moblit, it made sense they would feel entitled to just walk in. Instead, stood half in the room with one hand on the door was a giant, silver, stranger. He was as taller than Eld and wearing a smile as fake as Farlan’s when he was working. His hair, as solid silver as the rest of him, was cut into an undercut and parted on one side. A military haircut.

“If I say no will you get out?” Levi’s entire body was stiff with tension.

“Afraid not, we need to talk.”

He closed the door quietly and began walking into the room like he owned the damn place.

“That’s close enough, don’t you think?” The stranger’s steps faltered, and he raised his hands placatingly. “Or do you always need to mouth-breath on the person you’re talking to?”

For a moment, he didn’t say anything and Levi thought he could push this further, maybe order him out to the hallway.

“It’s a long way down, Levi.” The stranger’s eyes pointedly trailed down to the stripped bed and the poorly concealed pile on the floor. Levi refused to look away or move, even if he was sure his breathing was echoing around the room.

“My name’s Commander Erwin.” Levi’s glare hardened, of _course_ this was the asshole who had gotten him into this situation. “I believe you’ve already spoken with Hanji about our situation -”

“Couldn’t give a rat’s ass about _your_ situation,” Levi snapped, shoving himself off the bedpost. “ _My_ situation, however, is apparently because of your shitty-ass planning.” Levi only stopped advancing when they were toe to toe, his face like murder, but the big bastard didn’t so much as flinch. He just stared down at Levi patiently. They were both aware that Levi couldn’t do shit to him.

“You think you would have found your friend if I hadn’t led you there? Left to your own devices, all three of you would be locked up in that tower.”

“Or we would have all gotten out.”

From this close, Levi could see the details that made up his metal face. Overall, it wasn’t a bad face, it was symmetrical with a straight nose and strong jawline, exactly what one would expect a sculptor to create. His eyes were what Levi found himself focusing on, somehow, they seemed _different_. They were just as metal as the rest of him, irises made up of engraving and pupils were two dips in the silver, just enough to cast a shadow, but still _different_. He wondered if his human eyes were as unsettling as these.

“Maybe, maybe not, but here are. Now, I won’t stop you from trying to leave, we all want you to have your freedom back, I only ask that you give us time.”

Time? How much more time could they want? This morning felt like it had happened a week ago - a _lifetime_ ago – if no one was going to stop him from leaving then why in god’s name would he stay?

“Time for what?” 

The smile was back. “To feed you for a start – not with Master Eren,” he added before Levi could ask. “We’ve been very poor hosts so far, it would look even worse if we let you go out in _that_ unfed,” he nodded toward one of the windows. The sky, which had been covered in fat snow clouds all day, had darkened considerably. Good thing Levi hadn’t been planning on taking off tonight, the snow-covered woods would be pitch black and disorientating within the hour.

Levi folded his arms, weighing up whether he should decline or not when stomach released an uncomfortably long growl. His hand shot down to his stomach in a futile attempt to quieten it, but Erwin’s smile had become real and amused.

“Glad that’s settled, follow me.” He strode across the room and held the door open for Levi. Patronising shit.

 

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“So, you’re meant to be a shield?” Levi asked, eyeing Erwin’s metal torso as they walked. He hadn’t seen it earlier, but there were strips around either side of his joints, studded with nuts and bolts.

“Yes, for the past ten years now,” Erwin said, glancing down at his hand as if he were checking it was still metal.

_Ironic_ , Levi thought. This guy was the King’s right-hand, a Commander, his entire body was a literal shield and yet he couldn’t do jack-shit to protect anyone in this place. Eventually, when they reached a point Levi recognised from earlier, Erwin stopped to point out a huge staircase in the opposite direction.

“You can go anywhere in the palace you like, but you might want to avoid going up those stairs.”

_Oh_? Levi looked at them cautiously. “Why, what’s up there?”

“Well, for one no one, except Prince Eren goes up there so it’s probably a mess.”  

Levi grimaced. On top of everything else, the kid was also a slob.

He didn’t notice straight away, but Erwin had carried on walking leaving Levi to powerwalk after him – glancing back at the stairs as he went -. They were marble, like the ones in the foyer, but there was a strip of red carpet running up the centre of them. The away further they got, Levi could see a large window at the top, with stained-glass along the top in three panels.

“If it’s a mess why does his royalness go up there?”

Erwin answered over his shoulder. “To be alone, it’s where he goes to think.”

Levi scoffed. “You’re all trapped in here and he’s forbidding entire wings?” What the fuck even is a wing?

“Oh, I don’t know if you’d call it _forbidden_.” He paused, just long enough for Levi to catch up, and turned to him. “The Prince just values his privacy.”

 

He heard Hanji before he saw her. As they approached an ostentatiously large set of dark wooden doors there was a heavy thunk, like something heavy being dropped onto a carpeted floor, before the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps running towards them. One massive door was slowly pulled open just enough so that Hanji could squeeze out.

“Levi!” she was grinning manically. “You’re here. And of your own free will!”

Levi glanced up at Erwin, who was shaking his head with a small, amused smile.

“That’s debatable,” Levi responded, folding his arms. “I’m just out here for some food.”

“Of course, of course, we have everything ready for you. Though it has been a while since we’ve had to prepare – you know what, never mind.” She took a deep breath and cleared her throat, then, straightened her back before reaching for the door handles again. “Levi, for as long as we have you please, be our guest.”

She swung the doors open and immediately music started up, the first few notes fumbled before settling into something slow and melodic. The room was, of course, massive, its ceiling was so high it looked as though it could be turned into two floors. High windows ran evenly spaced along the highest point of the walls, letting in what little natural light was left from the day. The rest of the room was lit by a large fireplace which humbly crackled away under the music, three giant chandeliers, and several standing candelabras dotted around the corners. Somehow, the room was still quite dark.

Taking up the majority of space in the room was a long dining table, covered by a blue and gold damask tablecloth that would have been right at home in whatever part of the palace Levi’s room was in. Levi cautiously followed Hanji to the table where Moblit was stood, hands behind his back, there was no sign of the big guy but that could change in a heartbeat. The other side of the room someone was sat playing something that looked like a piano but didn’t sound like one. They were too far away and the room was too dark for Levi to really see, but they didn’t seem to made of metal or wood.

“Your chair, my good sir.” Hanji gave a dramatic bow to a chair that Moblit was now pulling out. It sounded heavy as he dragged it out, hell, it _looked_ heavy. The edges around the back, as well as its arms and legs, were carved decoratively, and the cushions were yellow and brown to match the rest of the room.

“I can get my own chair.”

Moblit paused, grip loosening on the seat until Hanji cut in.

“Nonsense, you’re our guest!”

Levi then found himself being shoved back by two hands on his shoulders. He landed hard in the seat with a pained _oof_ as the impact ran up his back and ended up rattling in his head. “I thought you were a scientist, not a servant,” he snapped.

Hanji gestured for Moblit to tuck Levi’s chair in, “I am a candle of many talents, including hospitality.” Levi resisted the urge to remind her he was basically a hostage. “Now,” she continued. “We weren’t sure what you would want exactly, so -” she clapped her hands twice and a set of doors, near the ones Levi came in through, promptly flew open.

Out poured a line of people made of wood, glass, metal, crockery, all at varying levels of identifiable. They were carrying covered silver platters, glasses, dishes, everything Levi would have expected if all the chairs around this ridiculously long table were filled by royals and governors. Making a beeline for the table, the staff lay everything out with choreographed precision. The covers were lifted and set aside, revealing more food than Levi had ever seen in his life. A plate with edges that matched the tablecloth was set in front of him, along with rows of utensil that he vaguely knew had different uses. A boy made of something white and delicate-looking offered Hanji a napkin on a plate to Hanji. One of his arms was missing.

Before Levi could stare, which he honestly didn’t _want_ to do, Hanji snagged the napkin and attempted to shove it in Levi’s collar. “Stop, no,” Levi demanded, snatching the cloth from her. He didn’t tuck it into his shirt, at least not right away. Instead, he clenched it in his fist on the table as he watched a woman made of corduroy set down a wine glass, and a boy made of blue wood with gold-brass clothing fill it with red wine. When they were finished, he noticed Hanji staring pointedly at him. Her head nodded towards his hand. After letting out a long breath through his nose, Levi viciously stuffed it into place.

He was suddenly regretting leaving his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear lord, I am sorry I take so long to update, thank you to everyone who's sticking with this trainwreck I really don't deserve you


	9. Dinner for One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets the rest of Eren's friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where the heck have I been? Ha, good question reader...... anyway here it is

Most of the strangers filed out after that, back into the kitchen or the through the main door, but a few stayed. Levi was perched awkwardly at the head of the table, like a peasant someone had mistaken for a king. Hanji scrabbled to sit to the right of him, while Erwin took the other side with more grace. The rest of the room lingered uncomfortably, all very obviously trying to stare at him but glancing away as soon as he met their eyes. When another girl sat down next to Hanji it took a minute for him to realise she was glaring. Her face was translucent, like faceted crystal, the candlelight glinted off the smooth shapes and made her look like she was glowing in the dim hall. 

“You made quite an interesting first impression here, Levi.”

“Mikasa,” warned a boy stood behind her. 

“What? Didn’t you say we should get to know our guest?” Her eyes ran Levi up and down. “I thought he’d be taller.” Across the room, the music fumbled again before carrying on.  
The girl’s skin was clear and polished as a new diamond, her eyes and hair were the same glass-like material only pure black. Her clothes were the same as her skin, a white blouse and a dark bodice fused seamlessly to her body. She couldn’t have been much taller than Levi and certainly didn’t look older, her delicate face still had the softness of adolescence. 

The boy, who tapped her shoulder in reprimand, was entirely white porcelain aside from a tint of blue in his wide eyes. He looked even younger than the girl, Mikasa, he had round cheeks, a button nose, and hair like a coconut. He seemed ready to apologise for her attitude when Hanji started laughing.

“Oh, you two are going to get on fine,” she said, flapping her hand, causing everyone to take a seat. “Levi, this is Mikasa, Prince Eren’s adopted sister.” She covered her mouth and stage whispered, “She’s a little protective.” 

Mikasa placed her clasped hands on the table. “I just want to be sure he won’t be making any more attempts on Eren’s, or anyone else’s, life during his stay.”

“Eren is quite resilient, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” the boy interjected before smiling at Levi. “It’s nice to meet you Levi, I’m Armin. Formerly a kitchen boy.” That made sense, his porcelain clothes were just a plain shirt, the sleeves rolled up, and slacks. Nothing royal or as neatly uniformed as Moblit’s clothes, though his chest was made of glass so did that even count as clothes? Levi glanced around the table at the others who had sat down, they all looked startling young. Of course, these kids were probably around the same age as him, but that somehow made it worse. 

“You probably have a lot of questions for us,” Armin prompted.

“Like, are you all planning on staring at me all night?” Levi asked, looking around at their expectant faces.

Two kids sat furthest away, a slim wooden girl with a pony tail and a bald copper boy, instantly turned their faces down to the table. Armin winced, “Sorry about this, we’re just curious, you’re the first -”

“First dumbass to find this place in ten years.” Levi gaze flickered between Hanji and Erwin. “So I’m told. I really wasn’t planning on sticking around though.” 

The music across the room stopped abruptly, “Oh, and you think we were?” a voice snapped.

“Jean!”

The reprimanded came from the boy with one arm who had sat next to Erwin, who, up until now he’d been smiling with polite amusement at Mikasa and Armin. Now he just looked aghast.

“Why do we even need music right now?” Jean called back. “The most important conversation of our lives and I’m over here playing the damn harpsichord!” He slammed down on some notes for emphasis. 

“To create a pleasant dining experience,” Mikasa replied in a completely monotone voice. “We’re not savages.”

 

What the fuck is a harpsichord?

 

The table descended into chaos after that.

“God Jean, you had one job!” 

“Are you trying to make us look bad?”

“Told you it was too much!”

 

To his credit, Erwin maintained his composure. He stared at the table for a moment, sighed, then gave Levi a what-can-you-do smile. Jean abandoned his seat at the harpsichord and joined the table, seemingly just to argue with the copper boy and wooden girl. Armin and the boy with one arm were trying to talk the three of them down, and even Moblit and Hanji had broken into a whispered debate. Mikasa was the only one of the kids that didn't get involved, instead, she was looking to Erwin. 

Erwin gave the slightest nod and Mikasa put both hands on the table and stood up. At the sound of her chair dragging across the floor, the rest of the table fell silent to watch her. “Jean, sit.” Jean, who had been leaning over the wooden girl to try to hit the copper boy, dropped into a seat so fast he didn’t have time to pull it out all the way. “Marco,” the boy with one arm straightened up, “make sure he stays sat.” He smiled back at her before nodding. “Sasha, Connie, introduce yourselves to our guest before he finds a butter knife.” 

Levi kept his face impassive as Mikasa sat back down, and the copper boy and wooden girl hastily got to their feet. “Sorry Mikasa. And Commander Erwin- and Levi, oh or - Mr. is it Mr. Levi?” Sasha wrung her hands while trying to catch her breath. “I’m Sasha, I was a maid, now I’m a quiver.” 

The confusion must have shown on his face because after a few silent seconds Sasha shuffled her chair back enough to show her back. Down the centre of her back, where there should have been a spine, was a valley. A smooth dip, like the guttering that ran along the side of the roads, ended at the small of her back. Overlapping it were three thick black straps that could certainly keep arrows steady in the space. 

 

How in the hell is she standing upright? 

 

“It’s just Levi,” he managed, still distracted by the girl’s back. She didn’t seem to notice though, sitting back down and tucking the chair closer to the table. “A wooden quiver? Isn’t that a little old fashioned?” 

“Oh, it is, but apparently King Grisha had one from childhood laying around.” She shrugged, “It could have been worse.”   
Not knowing what to say to that, Levi let it go and looked at the other boy, Connie. He stared back like a spooked deer for a moment before a metallic thunk that could only have been Sasha’s wooden hand ramming into his leg under the table, startled him into action. 

“Connie Springer! Uh, I’m a servant and kettle.”

“A kettle?” He looked the boy up and down, like Sasha, he looked mostly human. “How do you know you’re meant to be a kettle?”  
Connie relaxed instantaneously, a worrying smile spread across his face before he lunged across the table for a large glass jug of water. 

“For godsake Connie, you could have just told him,” complained the boy who had been trying to hit him earlier. Jean, was it? Completely ignoring him anyway, Connie chugged the entire jug of water in one long pour, his throat not moving to swallow once. Connie held up one finger and put the other hand on his stomach. 

No one at the table, bar Sasha, looked particularly happy about what was happening. Hanji shot him a sheepish smile and shrugged. Next to her, Mikasa lifted her clasped hands to her forehead and sighed through her nose. He was about to ask what they were waiting for when a distinctive whistle started up. Levi’s head shot back to Connie, who moved his hand to reveal his stomach was now faintly glowing red and steam was coming from his nose and mouth. Then, to Levi’s absolute horror, Connie picked up the water jug, bent in half, and began pouring boiling hot water into it from his mouth. 

His foot slammed into the floor, shoving his heavy-ass chair back away from the table. The noise blessedly caused Connie to pause and look up. “Um, ta-da?” 

“Someone tell me you did not cook anything using… that.” He couldn’t find a word to sufficiently describe that display and how much he never wanted to see it again. 

“No, no, it unsettles us as well,” Hanji said quickly. “I didn’t think we’d have to tell Connie not to do that in front of you.” 

Connie’s shoulder shot up to his ears, “Sorry.” He put the jug back on the table and dropped into his seat, shuffling half way down before Sasha patted him reassuringly. Levi glared at the feast that was spread out in front of him. It may have been enough food to keep his house fed for six months, lay on tableware more expensive than his cottage, but there was a line.

“Yeah, yeah, Connie’s a dumbass, I’m Jean, that’s Marco, can we talk about the elephant in the room now?” 

 

So Jean was his name. 

 

Marco, the boy with one arm, gave a polite smile and bow when he was introduced, only faltering slightly at Jean’s impatient tone. Marco, Marco. The name rang familiar in Levi’s head, hadn’t Hanji mentioned Marco being the one that fell downstairs and broke? Well, the missing arm was a pretty good tip-off, and now Levi was sat so close to him, he could see a scrape taking up half of his forehead. There was a chip on his brow too, nothing too big or life-threatening but enough to look like half the men Levi had grown up with that had scars cutting through their eyebrows. The kid also had a face-full of what must have been freckles, they were the shade of dark brown as his eyes, both standing out from the rest of his pure white skin. 

Electing to make Jean wait longer, Levi turned to Marco. “I hear you’re a teacup.” 

“That’s right,” Marco replied, seeming happy to be addressed. “At least, I am these days, I used to be a laundry boy. That’s how I did this actually,” he gestured to his missing arm, 

“I tried to carry a full basket downstairs and well...” 

Levi hummed in acknowledgement, eyes only flickering down to the hole in the boy’s side for a second. “And what’s the loudmouth meant to be?”

Jean groused over Sasha and Connie’s snickering, “Oh, come on, I’m right here.” His body looked entirely leather, skin a light brown, clothes a darker stain and his hair a combination of both. It was a solid piece of leather styled into an undercut, the shaved underside darker than the top. The kid also had an unusually long face, but maybe he’d grow into it. 

“Jean is our stable boy, fittingly, he’s a saddle -” 

Connie snorted, “It fits him because he’s a horse.” 

“Shut the fuck up, tin-dick .” 

Connie was ready to retaliate until Erwin cleared his throat, he raised one thick eyebrow at the pair and they sat back in their seats.

 

Levi would have genuinely believed he was sitting with a group of teenagers had they all looked human.

 

Marco leaned forward to look at Jean, who held his flashed his hands up innocently, before carrying on. “This is why we asked him to play the harpsichord for this talk.” 

___

They all had questions for him. What was the world outside like? Did anyone remember them? How did he and his friends find them?   
The more they asked the more uncomfortable he felt, they’d been here all this time waiting for a miracle to come tearing down the doors and they got stuck with him. 

“How much has changed?”  
Only the seasons 

“What do you do?”  
Well when I’m not running from the law I’m cleaning up horse shit

“How much do you know about magic?”  
Only that if you fuck with it you apparently get turned into a demon or a dishtowel

It was Hanji that realised he hadn’t been eating during their questioning, though she was asking plenty herself. She began piling food onto a plate for him in such a furiously messy way that Armin stepped in, taking the plate from her hands and setting it aside to assemble a more orderly one. When it was set in front of him Levi didn’t start eating straight away, the whole table was still staring at him. Hanji ushered him to carry on and ‘pretend they weren’t there’, but at the first forkful of roast chicken Sasha whimpered like a starved dog. 

Erwin allowed a few more burning questions before sending the kids out, he and Hanji stayed put. 

Levi finished his plateful while the two of them spoke between themselves about the kids, occasionally throwing in details he should know. He learned that Armin wasn’t just a kitchen boy, he was also Eren’s childhood best friend. He learned that Jean butts heads with Eren even more than he does with Connie, and that Sasha refused to give up on trying to eat food for a solid month when they were turned. 

After carefully wiping his mouth on a linen napkin that smelled like it has been sat in rose petals, Levi stood up.

“I’ll walk you back. Hanji can you get all this tidied away?” He looked between the still full table and Hanji’s sheepish grin.  
As Levi followed Erwin back out of the room the kitchen door creaked open. The staff came out again, swarming the table in the same choreographed manner they had laid the feast.

 

Erwin held the door open for Levi to walk through first which, given he had no idea where he was going, was a pointless gesture. “Sorry about throwing you in the deep end there,”   
Erwin said as they fell into step.

“Are you now?” Levi replied, dryly. Looking around the corridor seemed familiar but that could just have been the décor. Everything was marble, gold and paintings of dead royals. 

“Well, we can’t blame them for being curious. Who wouldn’t be?”

Something sparked in Levi’s memory. Curious. “Are you expecting me to know this loophole business? As I said in there, I know jackshit about magic. If you wanted someone who could fuck around with a system, you should have cosied up to Farlan.”

From the corner of his eye, Levi saw Erwin’s head turn toward him. “Loophole business? Is this Hanji’s theory?” 

“Moblit seemed pretty dead-set against it, whatever it is.”

“I can imagine. She’s an unparalleled scientist but magic has never completely made sense to her. It’s why she’s so eager to study it.” 

 

Erwin held another door open, as Levi walked through he was met with the corridor that ended with the stairs to the east wing. Erwin carried on, “I promise she won’t try anything nefarious while you’re with us, she might need reigning in occasionally but she’s a good person to know.”  
Levi watched the stained glass get smaller the further in they moved. It completely disappeared by the time they reached the door they needed, but he kept staring, wondering what kept the big guy busy up there. What was so private? 

The thought stuck in his mind the entire journey back to his room, which was surprisingly short. He could definitely navigate his way back. He was definitely going to.


End file.
